This is not Lin-sanity. This is stupidity.
Yesterday, I
wrote about ESPN's use of a racial slur, with an eye towards understanding stereotypes, humor, and the racism of "faulty superegos".
I just found out that Ben and Jerry's has an even faultier superego. They've introduced a "Taste the Lin-Sanity" flavor at their Harvard Square location, featuring fortune cookie pieces and lychee. This one aggravated me almost more than the online and on-air slur, because this was fully thought out and developed - many minds worked on this, and no one saw a problem. First, to my knowledge, they are using Jeremy Lin's name without his approval. Second, they are using stereotypical "Chinesey" ingredients because of Lin's heritage. Would they serve up a Martin Luther King or LeBron James watermelon flavored ice cream? I think not.
I patiently, respectfully and wholeheartedly serve patients of every ethnic background - hopefully with compassion and wisdom, if I'm doing my job well. My patients often have to deal with unpleasant situations - and they know that I've got their back, no matter their ethnic background. In the consulting room, I have to be empathic and present, because my patients are often dealing with unpleasant situations. Why am I saying this? Because if anything, I bend over backwards to understand my patient's perspective.
And I think I understand where things like Ben and Jerry's commodification and marketization of Jeremy Lin comes from. They want to make a fast buck on a popular name. That's called greed. They failed to properly check with alternate views of what their lame idea could mean. That's basically ignorance.
If they would have checked out who Jeremy Lin was, they would know he loves In N' Out Burgers, Denny's and Now-and-Laters (he often sports a Now-and-Later stained tongue). If they would have asked Jeremy what his flavor should be, maybe he would have said Mint Chocolate with Now-and-Later chunks. Now that's money. And reality.
Once again, Asian America refuses to be defined by your racist stereotypes. If they had called this "Chinese Restaurant" flavor - well, maybe that would be ok.
But this has bad taste written all over it.
Send your comments to Ben and Jerry's here.
Read the Asian American Journalists Association's guidelines on how to cover Jeremy Lin here.
© 2012 Ravi Chandra, M.D. All rights reserved. If you like this, bookmark my homepage (here), subscribe via RSS, or follow me on Twitter. And I really appreciate your shares on Facebook. Commenters, please note: I will delete and not respond to any "Anonymous" comments. At least use a screen name. "Anonymous" usually amounts to bad behavior online, and I don't support that.
Update: they took out the fortune cookies but primarily because the cookies "got too soggy", not explicitly because anyone complained. News here. I think they still deserve to get feedback about this.
Update (2/26/12): They apologized. Thanks to everyone who wrote them. It is a great moment when our voices are heard. Let's hope that decisions are made by people of diverse backgrounds and opinions.
