Mary J. Blige Agrees that the Burger King Commercial was “Buffoonery”
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, BlackBlueDog.com
Mary J. Blige says that she was initially quite happy to be offered a chance to sing for Burger King in a recent commercial spot.
“It was sold to us that I would be shot in an iconic way,” Blige told Hot 97’s Angie Martinez. “I did it because I thought it was something that wouldn’t come out like that.”
What Mary got was something short of the original artistic vision. Instead, the final cut was the kind of buffoonery that would make Flavor Flav quite proud.
“I would never just bust out singing about chicken and chicken wings,” said Blige.
Blige went on to say that the controversy “hurt my feelings. It crushed me for like two days.”
Burger King did pull the ad, but says that it didn’t do so because of the racial controversy. Instead, the company has cited licensing issues for the reason that it cut the ad off faster than you can say, “Boss, I sho be needin some mo fried chicken!”
“I want to apologize to everyone who was offended who thought I would do something that was so disrespectful to our culture,” she said.
“I would never do anything like that. I thought I was doing something right.”
When I saw Mary put out this ad, I froze in my tracks, whispering the words “Mary, Mary, Mary” under my breath. It hurt me for more than two days and I was just saddened to see this go down. To be honest, the ad totally changed the way I see Blige as an artist, and I admit that I don’t believe that they released this ad without showing her the final copy (I can’t imagine her management being that irresponsible with her likeness). The scandal in which Mary’s team is responsible for losing charity money to keep kids in college also made me lift an eyebrow or two. I’m not sure what’s going on with Mary, and I hope that she’s OK.
At the same time, this Burger King debacle is very similar to the Adidas controversy last week where someone decided that it would be a great idea to put shackles on a pair of sneakers that would be worn by a lot of black kids. These “marvels of corporate America” are merely a reflection of the fact that most corporations do not adopt meaningful diversity in their ranks. Their decisions are made in a vacuum, and that’s how they end up being caught up in racial firestorms.
I still love Mary J. Blige, but I hope she can avoid the drama for at least a few more years. The last thing any of us needs is to see Mary’s soulful gifts being used to praise a piece of d**n chicken. I also hope that her management team realizes that people are only going to accept these excuses for so long. You don’t want the public to think that you’re willing to sell every ounce of your integrity for money (or chicken).
48 Responses to Mary J. Blige Agrees that the Burger King Commercial was “Buffoonery”
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Mary made a mistake. She appears to be deeply sorry. Let’s move on.
Mary got a chance to do a commercial and make some money and keep her name out there. Are we really saying that black folks can’t do any commercials or appearances that support fried chicken or collard greens or….Other people eat these foods although they are associated with our history.
I appreciate MJB’s sensitivity to the racialistic nature of foods that have exclusive associations to Blacks in ways that sustain stereotypical ideas. Yes, Mary must earn money but I’m certainly glad she realizes the other side to this coin and that what other people get away with is something we must stand together to fight offensive media. She is a stronger woman because of it. When other people eat chicken, watermelon, and collard greens, they don’t have to later see it used against them to distort the value of that groups racial identity or cultural value. Blacks have had a long history of negated reference to their humanity as subhuman, imbecil, bufoon, and dim wit as a result of negative media references that began with Blackface minstrels in 1848. These ideas of food and southern vernacular simply morphed itself into our present day modernity to the tune of a beat and a slick vocal style. Whether overt or subtle, if we are unwary of the historical racist media that continues to feature this and other dastard images about us, we are perpetuating themes of subjugation out of our ignorance and leaving this mess for the next generation to grapple.
Well said, too many black people do not know when they are being insulted. Or, for that matter when they are insulting our culture and our people. Maybe, when we start reading…, because it appears that we will not or can not teach our history to the masses of black people. At least she has the dignity to say she’s sorry. I forgive her.
I totally agree with you. Most black people would have you think we are the most “ignorant” of races when it comes to commerce. Latinos weren’t afraid to sing about ‘Chiquita Bananas” and get paid. White Americans sing about rice, cars every product known to man and you do not see them spreading negativity around about it. Sherri and Whoopi said you would never catch them eating watermelon on camera; Why? Scoop it out with little ice cream scoops and serve it in a dessert dish if you want to seem “classy”. Have you ever really thought about how we eat everything others eat, taught them how to cultivate it and only we fell ashamed to be caught eating it? Why? Keep your mind imprisoned and you will never be able to make money the way the Two Percenters do. Media is the money making cornerstone of the economic world. Yet some of us take the risk of getting splashed all over the papers by getting caught dealing drugs because the revenue is so high. BLACK PEOPLE! People eat EVERY DAY! We need to wake up and smell the coffee! h**l even sing about it. I know IF I owned a few KFC’s and/or a few Popeyes…I’d be going around singing “Love That Chicken From Popeyes”! Next issue, why don’t we put what we make back into our cultures? Yeah a whole “nother” story, so how someone who won’t do that tell me how to make my money?
Yet Whoopi Goldberg is the person who put Ted Danson in black face, and had a one woman show called “The Spook Show”.
Samsara13, I love how you word this comment, it was well spoken. I agree that a lot of black people(African American) imprisoned oneself, it is a sad situation. We as African American’s need to own our culture and not allow others to make us feel that our culture is a bad thing. Like you sad about the watermelon, we still can enjoy what people say is “A Black Person” fruit, scoop the watermelon out and eat it just like they do wtih their cantaloupe,you don’t here about know one make a joke out that.It’s all about the choices that we make for oneself.
What was wrong with it?? Boring to me but I don’t see a problem
Exactly…its boring and a dumb commerical.. they way evetyone was speaking as if she wad yelling chicken as a slavr on the corner.
its just a dumb commerical…. this was truelblown out of proportion.
as stated above.. black folks can’t gey paid gor making commericals about chivken, watermellon, cornbread, or greens!..
i understand the controversy better ovet the Adaias shoes!
I’m with you. Much ado about nothing.
Mary shouldn’t apologize for doing the commercial. I don’t see anything wrong with it. If she was up there skinny and grinning with a rag on her head them I would think that the commercial was buffoonery. At least she wasn’t up there rapping and using the N word.
What about the Church’s Fried Chicken ads with a black woman as the spokesperson? Is that a different situation?
Ranman is correct (below). The ad I was thinking of was for Popeye’s. Oops…
@playrighter good one!!
I must be missing something what’s the problem?
What the h**l, but you got that lady on Popeyes boasting with pride about her chicken. Mary don’t apologize.
I didn’t see anything wrong with the silly commercial. Some people are overly sensitive.
WTH is the problem? with the pathetic state of the music i hear on the street she was down right refreshing.MOVE TO SOMETHING MORE IMPORTANT
What was so bad about that? I would rather see Mary J. singing about chicken, and in somebody’s kitchen cooking one.
I never saw anything wrong with the commercial…I liked the beat…the manager jamming. I don’t think she should have apologized for it.
I’m sorry, I’ve watched this several times, at every angle, trying to see what the big deal is. I’m all for black power, but what is the problem with the commercial? I really just don’t get it. It’s silly, yes, but other than that…???????
There was absolutely nothing wrong with this commercial. Whoever associates themselves with a crispy chicken wrap has lost their rabbit a*s mind. Get a grip people…If you want to choose a battle sign on to Americans against the tea party and do something constructive.
I agree with the author.
I dont think Mary J should apologize for the doing the BK commercial. I agree with the ladies on the “Talk”. We should pick our battles. Why arent we talking about some of the things America is not giving the African Americans that we are suppose to have ? Hey, we better embrace the fact that folks are giving us the props for frying THE best chicken ever ! SIG ON MARY ! DON’T LET THE HATERS MAKE YOU SECOND GUESS YOURSELF; YOU DID NOTHING WRONG AND YOU DEFINITELY DID NOT DISRESPECT YOUR ETHNICITY.
What is going with this world? You have a lady here that is like some of us,lucky to be alive. She sings her heart out of all the drama she has been through in her life. How many of us give to charity? I know I should but I don’t and I have been lineman for 30 years and I make good money. This kind of drama is one reason why a lot us do not give to charity. This has gotten me upset and we need to pray about it. I will start giving my share because it Gods money anyway. Leave this lady and her family alone. God bless and peace.
Here we go again, with over sensitivity, making mountains out of molehills, jumping on the wrong entertainers when we should be protesting gangsta rap.
I thought the commercial was done in decent taste. In fact a chicken could have been up there singing it. I’ve seen much worst! However, I advocate that we must be vigilant of the sterotypes of blacks in the media.
Where is the beef. I SAW ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG ABOUT THIS AD.
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She made a mistake by doing this commerical, but she will bounce back. Her voice is so amazing that people will forget about this mistake and continue to love her for the soulful and passionate sounds that she gives us when she sings….We love you Mary and will continue to love you. Just be careful of what your commerical look like when you are doing them and remember that all money is not good money. So you may receive alot of money for doing commerical like this one, but it is not good for your image.
All of the talk about Mary, which she has stepped forward and admitted that she was in error, but I don’t hear any “h**l-raising” by any black folks being directed at Burger King. Nor anyone saying let’s “suspend” Burger King from out money for at least a few days. With, perhpas, this website or Your Black World, or some black group kicking off the call for the “suspension.” You hurt white folks when you deny them any amount of money, because you know how greedy they are. So don’t just jump on Mary Blige, jump on Burger King too. Are you too “chicken?” — Rev. George Brooks
You are so ignorant. Get over yourself “Reverend” you’re not being very Christian-like. But you know how greedy white folks are… meh.
You have to remember… that the Watermellon jokes about Black Men came to a quick halt when it was noticed that Watermellon and v****a some of the same chemical properties! You just don’t seem to hear those jokes anymore!
We all have a right to our opinion, some are offended and they have that right to express it. Like those of you that feel no big deal, we have got
to stop selling our souls for MONEY, period. Not just commercials, on the radio, in movies on television. Rap video’s as well when do we regain our self respect and honor as the great people we are!
Mary’s infaturation with blond hair should tell you she doesn’t have any REAL racial pride. If nobody had complained about her commercial she wouldn’t have either. Like nobody’s complaining about her blond hair/weaves/wigs so she continues to wear them. And if you don’t see anything wrong with someone Mary’s color wearing blond hair, then you have no racial pride either.
We, African Amercans, are a people of many shades and colors and yes even naturally blonde hair. Harping on the blonde hairpieces/weaves that Mary chooses to wear is rediculous. There are much bigger fish to fry my friend. For better knowledege check out this link and you can even google africans and blonde hair if you like.http://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.yahoo.com%2Forigin-mysterious-dark-skinned-blonds-discovered-181239858.html&session_token=oTAoxIN67WProMPBs5uYNSiHin18MTM0MTM0MDI0M0AxMzQxMjUzODQz
It is of utmost import that we view this issue in the context of our history as African-Americans in a racist society;studying the demeaning portrayal of African-Americans in film and television would cause us to be more vigilant when it comes to racial stereo types.If we place financial gain over racial pride and dignity we always emerge the loser.
What is wrong with this has less to do with the details of the commercial and is more about Black people not creating and supporting their own businesses that offer real food that is healthy and good for us. But sadly that ain’t us….we prefer to spend millions in other peoples businesses on c**p that is sickening us. And that is hardly Mary’s fault….if yo a*s wasn’t up in there everyday they wouldn’t be looking for Mary in they ad. Lets give Mary a chance to sing in our black owned and run chain.
Dr. Boyce if you think the commercial shown with this blog is racially offensive and buffoonery you need to organize a million black people march on Tyler Perry studio’s in Atlanta! Eighty percent of his so-called entertainment would be inducted in the KKK buffoonery hall of fame if there was one.
On another note it is actual fact that a large percentage of individuals in our group prefer chicken over beef. If you don’t like chicken do not eat it eat some sirloin merion
I am more than aware that some of our cultural foods have been used by the American racist structure to negatively stereotype us as an inferior class of people. The question to me is why you are blogging about an issue that was obviously blown out of proportion in the first place?
I don’t see the problem with this commercial. Lots of people of every race eat chicken. What about yo quero taco bell? was that racist against Latinos??? Again I dont get it. Was Luther’s Kentucky Fried Chicken jingle racist???
The problem was that we as a people are and have been trying to break away from the past stereotypes that have plagued us from the beginning and then one of our prominent entertainers came in unknowingly to be used to sell chicken to us because they know that we follow our stars and it would’ve been the same reaction if they would’ve brought in LeBron James to do it and kids all over Urban, USA would’ve been buying it up. We’re too advanced as a nation of Blacks to be lead into that type of craziness, now just because the White guy in the commercial asked “what’s a chicken wrap?” Mary J. shouldn’t have been posted up and ready to go as the Goddess of the chicken wrapping formula by giving us the ingredients and how they’re prepared. I would’ve rather had seen Justin Beiber do the commercial.
I watched a Jeffersons show today where George Jefferson called Tom a ” hunky” I think we’ve become so sensitive these days that it’s sad. We used to be able to laugh at ourselves & move on. It really is not that big of a deal. It was just Hella funny!
this is the banana in the tail pie trick:
a) you recorded your vocals in the studio prior to the shoot.
b) then I’m sure they CGI’d (green screen) her performance and super imposed her image in the store. But don’t play victim and act like you didn’t know you was singing about chicken for BK. this story is baloney
people r so negetive mary is a very beautiful person. chicken and collard greens are not just a black thing,open ur mind and explore sometimes.
Just curious if Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber or Pitbull would have done
the same lyrics but with their style of singing, would it have gone
over the same? Maybe people need to free themselves from racist stereotypes from the beginning. A black person cannot make a commercial
advertising chicken?
Ummm…I don’t get it. What’s the big problem here?
The commercial is kinda corny, and boring…but us there supposed to be an offensive portion?
please some one should be saying this to mcdo alds! how many commercials do they have of black people singing and DANCING about chicken d**n nuggets! they don’t even bother to get a famous/iconic black prison they use regular actors/dancers! when they cane out with the mini nuggets things and had black singing, dancing around, and THEM BATTLING, that was the end of McDonalds for me. Or Walmart every summer i have to see some black folks bbqing, eating ribs and watermelon blasting fresh prince…summer time….we are not the only ones who listen to that or bbq for that matter!
I’m fine with everything except how she begins: “What’s in da new chicken wraps?” And she says it so fast! I just keep rewinding for that part alone! Hilarity at its finest! Not mad at all. It’s just a food people. We make such a big d**n deal out of everything. Didn’t other races do their version of this menu item as well? RELAX PEOPLE! SHEESH!
Y’all kill me always wanting an apology for this and that with your feelings on your sleeve. The story says nothing about her refusing that paycheck or maybe turning over the money to her foundation to stop those checks from boucing. Of course she’s OK, she came out and did the perfunctory apology you all demand and she’s moved on with her life. We can’t legislate people’s morality and MAKE them feel remorse. The sooner people realize that, the better. Yes, I’m Black and I didn’t like the commercial but, by now, everyone knows what coonery Blacks display so much that this was just another blip on the screen.