Screen grab from Eska’s now famous bottled water (yep) advertisement
It’s hard to imagine what Eska expected after recently running a TV ad depicting Goofy Guy Number One warning Goofy Guy Number Two not to pour orange juice into a glass of Eska water (why he’s considering this in the first place is beyond us), because “Eskan warriors” have been protecting the water’s purity for eight millennia. After a rumbling drum roll and an arbitrary cry from an off-screen eagle (presumably the wild bird is soaring somewhere above the serene suburb), we are treated to the big reveal: three cartoonish faux aborigines—one fat, one short, one lean—standing with comic-strip menace in the kitchen, armed with all the stereotypical fixings, including war paint, spears, loincloths, headdresses and a blowgun. We can’t say for sure, but maybe this primitive depiction is how the company’s ad executives imagine the natives who live on the Algonquin land where Eska water is sourced. The widespread reaction can be seen after the jump.
The ad elicited angry responses from members of the native community and beyond, including citizen journalist and Mohawk activist Clifton Nicholas, who said in his YouTube response—which is the only place you can still see the ad (at 1:00)—that the commercial was “sickening” and “distasteful,” before calling for a boycott of Eska, which prompted YouTube (or possibly Eska itself) to set it to private. Meanwhile, Facebook users went on a bilingual bash of Eska’s campaign on the company’s otherwise predictably boring Facebook wall, while aspiring advertising executives shared their outrage for Eska’s bad form on Twitter.
Maybe water companies are just prone to scandal—in recent memory Dasani was slammed for being bottled tap water, which was not nearly as extreme, and the company still appears to be thriving on convenience and grocery store shelves. But after reviewing one blogger’s ranking of the top 10 most racist commercials, we figure there’s a place for Eska to go down in Internet history, especially with this careless attempt, we imagine, at going viral. Why didn’t Eska just follow Jennifer Aniston’s “Smart” mantra?
Fat? Now you guys are just being meanies. I am big boned!
July 12, 2011 at 9:49 pm | by Daryl CollisonFunny, if the ad was pulled, why was it shown several times this morning while I was watching Breakfast Television on CP24?
July 13, 2011 at 12:11 am | by Christarchy