The KKK Took My iPod Away
August 26, 2007 12:05 PM   Subscribe

 
Kinda reminds me of BenQ's 9/11-themed mp3-player website..
posted by unmake at 12:08 PM on August 26, 2007


Well, years later and Dairy Queen is still selling MooLatte
posted by esoterica at 12:14 PM on August 26, 2007


How ... did... what
posted by blacklite at 12:18 PM on August 26, 2007


I lol'd
posted by C17H19NO3 at 12:20 PM on August 26, 2007


they should distribute these to the LAPD free of charge!
posted by Doorstop at 12:20 PM on August 26, 2007 [7 favorites]


MooLatte? Christ, I never even thought of the similarity there... man. I'm voting "clueless but innocent" on that one. I think on some level you need to be actively looking to be offended for the offense to actually occur.

But the MP3 player name, well, that's just a bit too obvious to chalk up to innocent stupidity, isn't it?
posted by caution live frogs at 12:23 PM on August 26, 2007




Is it true that Chevy had to change the name of the Nova in Latin America because it meant "no go"? Maybe that's an urban legend.
posted by HotPatatta at 12:28 PM on August 26, 2007


i.beat blaxx by....
TrekStor GmbH & Co. KG, Kastanienallee 8 - 10, D-64653 Lorsch

Meh.
posted by calhound at 12:28 PM on August 26, 2007


Well, it even seems to be german site. But, to even things out, they've also got the 'I.beat pink' model.
posted by pj_rivera at 12:28 PM on August 26, 2007


they had me at the lauperesque insinuation of "iBeat." the "blaxx" thing is just so much absurd bonus.
posted by Hat Maui at 12:30 PM on August 26, 2007


Let's not forget about Ayds Diet Candy.
posted by porn in the woods at 12:31 PM on August 26, 2007


Also from Fake Steve Jobs: the successor to Vista has been leaked.
posted by mert at 12:35 PM on August 26, 2007


Fake Steve is approaching the jump (shark, that is).
posted by wendell at 12:42 PM on August 26, 2007


HotPatatta: I thought it was true, but guess not.
posted by niles at 12:44 PM on August 26, 2007


from that slate link:

Q: And then one more here … Sambo's Extra Dark Triple Chocolate Shake. How's that grab you?

A: Actually, Dairy Queen doesn't make shakes. They make Blizzards.

Q: OK—Sambo's Extra Dark Triple Chocolate Blizzard.

A: What would that be?

Q: I would say you would find the blackest cone you could find and fill it with chocolate ice cream. And go from there.

ha. ha.
posted by ninjew at 12:48 PM on August 26, 2007


LOLGERMANS
posted by dersins at 12:54 PM on August 26, 2007


Sweet. Perfect for playing my Prussian Blue mp3s.
posted by aparrish at 12:54 PM on August 26, 2007 [4 favorites]


It's an okay design, but I hear it doesn't work that well...
posted by wfrgms at 1:03 PM on August 26, 2007


LOLGERMANS

I sat for about half a minute trying to figure out what at lolger was.
posted by dismas at 1:08 PM on August 26, 2007 [5 favorites]


While we're on the topic... I never understood why these guys didn't hire a PR firm and maybe change their name.
posted by ibmcginty at 1:17 PM on August 26, 2007 [1 favorite]


dismas: It's a laughing integer.
posted by papakwanz at 1:17 PM on August 26, 2007 [1 favorite]


It's what happens when you breed a liger and a lolcat.
posted by nebulawindphone at 1:41 PM on August 26, 2007 [1 favorite]


I giggled quietly to myself just now.
posted by Pecinpah at 1:47 PM on August 26, 2007


[not lolgerist]
posted by Devils Rancher at 1:52 PM on August 26, 2007


Re: Slate.

MooLatte and mulatto is big stretch. Being a smartass, I usually spot such things a mile away. I never thought of that until the Slate article.

Also, I have never found it funny to interview someone in the context of an agenda that you make known to your readers, but not to the interviewee, to make the interviewee look clueless. That's just a cheap shock-radio trick. Of course the DQ guy wouldn't respond any way but being polite. And he wouldn't catch the "Sambo's" reference because he wasn't tuned in to what the interviewer was trying to do. Not everyone even knows Sambo's would be considered a racist reference.

Now, if the interviewer had said "I think MooLatte is so close to mulatto, and because it's a light brown drink, that makes DQ racist and insensitive, so why don't you so a Sambo's treat that uses dark chocolate and dark cones?" He's have gotten pitched out on his ass.
posted by The Deej at 1:59 PM on August 26, 2007


The MooLatte/Samba article stretches for controversy like a fat woman stretches pantyhose.
posted by five fresh fish at 2:36 PM on August 26, 2007 [1 favorite]


I noticed the MooLatte/mulatto similarity right away, but the Deej didn't, and he normally does because he's a smartass. Must be a big stretch.
posted by thinman at 2:39 PM on August 26, 2007


Another one: did no-one in the Unilever product names department think of the connotations when they rebadged their cleaning cream as Cif (pronounced syph)?
posted by raygirvan at 2:42 PM on August 26, 2007


I like how in their rush-to-snark, the Houston Press cut-off the DQ spokesperson just as he was saying "'No. No. No. 'Moo, meaning cow, and then 'latte,' meaning—." Well, latte meaning "milk," of course, though in the US it's become shorthand for espresso-with-milk.

So, I do see a mulatto-moolatté relationship. DQ doesn't use a "moo" prefix for any other of their products, do they? Lattés are inherently milky, so it's not really needed. I'm not saying it's intentional -- as the interview seems to bear out, terms like 'mulatto,' 'high yellow,' 'quadroon,' etc. just aren't part of our modern race-related vocabulary. But I do think that they came up with a euphonious name, liking the "mooooo" sound for its playfulness, and didn't consider that one reason it sounds so right is its closeness to a real word. Unfortunately, that word is "mulatto," which has grown so archaic as to be virtually meaningless to most people. The light-brownness of the drink has to be a coincidence ... doesn't it?
posted by mumkin at 2:50 PM on August 26, 2007


LOLS COMPANIES!!11!1!1

Pepsi-blaxx
posted by oddman at 2:53 PM on August 26, 2007


In DQ-speak, "latte" means "coffee." It's Iced Cow-Coffee.
posted by five fresh fish at 3:11 PM on August 26, 2007


I noticed the MooLatte/mulatto similarity right away, but the Deej didn't, and he normally does because he's a smartass. Must be a big stretch.
posted by thinman


So I guess that proves you're not a smartass then.
posted by The Deej at 3:12 PM on August 26, 2007


If you say so. Nay, because you say so.
posted by thinman at 3:49 PM on August 26, 2007


Reminds me of the Becks Beer commercial about what Germans don't do well. Add naming products to the list.

Sank you. Ve'll be heah all ze veek.
posted by bpm140 at 3:49 PM on August 26, 2007


Actually, Dairy Queen doesn't make shakes.

Since when?
posted by evilcolonel at 3:54 PM on August 26, 2007


Is it true that Chevy had to change the name of the Nova in Latin America because it meant "no go"? Maybe that's an urban legend.
posted by HotPatatta

Don't know about that one, but the Mitsubishi Pajero is re-named 'Montero' in L.A., as 'Pajero' means 'masturbator'.
And 'no va' actually means 'it doesn't go'.
posted by signal at 4:20 PM on August 26, 2007


So "Pajero" wasn't a nice nickname? Damn, that hurts.
posted by five fresh fish at 4:35 PM on August 26, 2007


Is it true that Chevy had to change the name of the Nova in Latin America because it meant "no go"? Maybe that's an urban legend.

i remember hearing that a long time ago too, but apparently its an urban legend.
posted by fuzzypantalones at 4:58 PM on August 26, 2007




I have never heard anyone (except Kurt Cobain) say mulatto in my life, although I am at least aware that the word exists. I don't think I would ever make the connection to the MooLatte though. And I have seen enough old Black Sambo stuff at old animation festivals and such to get that image. But what the hell are "High Yellow Butterscotch Sundae" and "Octoroonie" supposed to be about?
posted by donkeymon at 6:30 PM on August 26, 2007


By the way, that wheelchair website is great - "Have you been dreaming of that unique custom wheelchair that would not cost you an arm and a leg?"
posted by donkeymon at 6:37 PM on August 26, 2007


Dang, donkeymon, that was probably worth a FPP on its own.
posted by The Deej at 7:28 PM on August 26, 2007


It has been done.
posted by five fresh fish at 7:56 PM on August 26, 2007


Ha! Well, then lemme try to goad donkeymon into posting a double. C'mon!!! You know you wanna!!!
posted by The Deej at 8:14 PM on August 26, 2007


Here in Oz I have been laughing at the pajeros driving Pajeros for most of 20 years. They're still cranking them out!
posted by Wolof at 9:33 PM on August 26, 2007


moolatte? That's just stupid - which probably means someone in marketing came up with it from the mulatto origin (I've heard the term mulatto commonly used - if not in broad company - in the Carolinas and down the East coast).

And the "iXXX" is stupid. First it was the eXXX then Apple took and ran with the "iTHING" like Forest Gump.

Sure, Jenny (Robin Wright Penn) was "into" Forest but, jeez, he's developmentally disabled. You didn't see Jenny in the movie falling for any other developmentally disabled disadvantaged mook, did you?
posted by porpoise at 11:28 PM on August 26, 2007


You know who else liked to beat things? That's right... Onanists.
posted by Eideteker at 4:54 AM on August 27, 2007


So, I go to show someone the link, and the company has DROPPED "iBeat" from the product name....
posted by tantrumthecat at 9:33 AM on August 27, 2007


Holy cow, it's been renamed to "Blaxx."

I was showing a friend this site last night, and it was still the iBeat Blaxx, but the site had removed the African-American woman on the left side of the page.
posted by porn in the woods at 11:04 AM on August 27, 2007


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