Epic WTF

I just saw it as melon being a comical name for a head.

(middle aged, white, British)
Wasn't aware it was a racist symbol.

Also saw the faces as something from Frobisher Says

Also the Rapha stuff is shite, maybe apart from the fade jersey.
Apparently Sir Paul wanted to be a racing cyclist before a bad accident prevented it.

I guess some people missed Boris' "watermelon smiles" as well then.

God I hate that man

I think your perspective obviously makes a lot of difference with what you see. I wouldn't have thought the cap was offensive without the watermelon juxtaposition, it reminds me of the comedy store logo rather than a golliwog if anything.

But I guess that's probably highlighting an issue with the process of designing and releasing such things, that there's no-one involved in that process who can give an alternative perspective is pretty damning.

a former colleague thought it just meant "big beaming smile" when I was talking to him about it a while back. He thought it was referring tot he shape of a slice of watermelon to imply that somebody with a watermelon smile is of a cheery demeanour. :shrugs:

Call me cynical, but this kind of thing is happening too often recently to be down to mistakes (almost none would be my guess).

I'd guess that there are so many marketing campaigns that aren't mistakenly racist that the % that are seemingly mistakenly racist is approaching 0.

People much more clued up than me about marketing and publicity tell me that this sort of "stunt" stopped being effective aeons ago, if it even ever was effective.

Oh very true. But I'd bet the ones that are seemingly mistakenly racist get more mentions/clicks and are talked about far more on average. Depends on the target audience, I suppose.

I think it did wonders for Boris. Shrugged it off and secured the far right vote.

Obviously it's an old comment. Hasn't really phased him tho

It's just a shot storm that people will not want to be linked to. esp an individual like Paul Smith. Not worth it

The watermelon thing is definitely more American but as said, an international brand should know better, and also frankly everyone should know better these days. It's racist as fuck.

Ok. I can buy that the cap design might have passed through some people when seen in the context of the other caps in the set. But that product shoot?

The product shoot could just be melon = head in the eyes of people from Europe.

The racist use is very much an Americanism. Side note one of the most popular types of watermelon in Asia is the Black Beauty, a name I now question but never did before and I buy 2 a week. Smaller than a big round one, it’s long thin shape makes it ideal for a fridge shelf and the low seed count makes it more pleasant to eat. https://specialtyproduce.com/produce/Black_Beauty_Watermelons_15851.php

But this is a region which had darkie toothpaste until very recently and has since made very little effort to move the name very far from the original. Wikipedia is your friend if you want more on that one.

Maybe some small desperate companies may try it to gain name recognition but I don't buy it that large companies will decide on it as a strategy. Too much potential down side, esp on share price.

Maybe I credit some people for not having their head in the sand then. I am still very skeptical.

We just gonna let that cabling slide?

?

Hahaha. Almost spat out my tea when I had a look!

Apparently Sir Paul wanted to be a cycling racist before a bad accident prevented it.

ftfy

Anyone wishing to explain this away as an Americanism might do well to ponder on Cinelli being owned by Asobi Ventures, based in Austin, Texas.

Tbh I think Paul should be the one making the apology. His design, his photo shoot.
He claims to be on touch with every part of his business and takes pride in remaining a private company.

You make it sound like people are apologising for the image. Explaining away means minimising the significance of something. I haven't seen anybody do that in this thread on this topic. Observing that a watermelon is not necessarily universally racist imagery is not "explaining away".

Totally won't be seen as a KKK hood:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQeFCfJqd2F/?utm_medium=copy_link

Reminds me of Rogolič