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Has anyone seen this iPhone TV Ad that's allegedly racist?
- Thread starter rocky1932
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Let me clear this up
I'm of Southern Italian decent and am NOT offended.
The term "Terrone", meaning "Of the earth", is ONLY derogatory in it's implication to some Southern Italians.
It's really an Italian thing, like all countries, it's a North vs. South or East vs. West, or an any combination thereof turf war.
When many, many, Southern Italians migrated to the North, they quickly overwhelmed local lodging facilities. These people were incredibly hard working people that first needed stable work before acquiring residences of their own. Many of these folks were forced to live with total strangers sharing rooms, bathrooms, beds, etc. Many Northern Italians cited these people as "Dirty", "Scum", "Trash", etc. Many Northern Italians looked down upon those from the south as they were subjected to greater educational resources and wealth. They saw and some still see Southern Italians as more likely to engage in criminal activities and the like due to the perceived notion of a "Lesser" life or more humble upbringing. THIS IGNORANCE IS LIKE ANY OTHER IGNORANCE, a stereotype, but like many stereotypes, based in some truth. Likewise, the Southern Italians had names for the Northern Italians, which, I don't feel inclined to lower myself to disseminate to the uninformed. No, unlike the idiot who originally started all of this, I don't feel compelled to dig up the past and only draw huge amounts of attention to something so petty and stupid. THIS IS NOT THE SAME THING AS ALL THE RACIST EXAMPLES THE GUY REFERENCES IN ATTEMPT TO DRAW SUPPORTERS FROM SYMPATHETIC OBSERVERS. THIS IS NOT THE SAME THING AS CALLING A PERSON ALL THE OTHER NAMES FOR A PERSON OF ANY ETHNICITY YOU CAN THINK OF.
It's not like other races would say this to Italians, it was nothing more than a derogatory Italian on Italian slang term (Province against province, so forth and so forth). The dude who started this whole thing completely blew it out of proportion and is an idiot for doing so.
Why would Apple even take the slightest chance at hurting their reputation over this? The guy says it's up to Apple to research this stuff, this damn term is so obscure, most modern Italians aren't even aware of the word's slang meaning.
The guy thinks that Apple should apologize, over what? How would Apple know Terroni meant anything but something neutral or positive as it was a restaurant name? The dude whines on about other racist restaurant names, how common are these and how many are actually racist? Very, very few.
Bottom line:
We can be offended by anything if we allow it.
This IS NOT a generally accepted racist term. The idiot makes an argument about Skinheads using the term, however, the guy is from Sicily and racist rhetoric for peoples of that region is not Terroni.
You can call me Terroni all day long and I actually take it as a complement. To me it means salt of the earth, down to earth, humble...
There are no facts, only perceptions and interpretations.
I'm of Southern Italian decent and am NOT offended.
The term "Terrone", meaning "Of the earth", is ONLY derogatory in it's implication to some Southern Italians.
It's really an Italian thing, like all countries, it's a North vs. South or East vs. West, or an any combination thereof turf war.
When many, many, Southern Italians migrated to the North, they quickly overwhelmed local lodging facilities. These people were incredibly hard working people that first needed stable work before acquiring residences of their own. Many of these folks were forced to live with total strangers sharing rooms, bathrooms, beds, etc. Many Northern Italians cited these people as "Dirty", "Scum", "Trash", etc. Many Northern Italians looked down upon those from the south as they were subjected to greater educational resources and wealth. They saw and some still see Southern Italians as more likely to engage in criminal activities and the like due to the perceived notion of a "Lesser" life or more humble upbringing. THIS IGNORANCE IS LIKE ANY OTHER IGNORANCE, a stereotype, but like many stereotypes, based in some truth. Likewise, the Southern Italians had names for the Northern Italians, which, I don't feel inclined to lower myself to disseminate to the uninformed. No, unlike the idiot who originally started all of this, I don't feel compelled to dig up the past and only draw huge amounts of attention to something so petty and stupid. THIS IS NOT THE SAME THING AS ALL THE RACIST EXAMPLES THE GUY REFERENCES IN ATTEMPT TO DRAW SUPPORTERS FROM SYMPATHETIC OBSERVERS. THIS IS NOT THE SAME THING AS CALLING A PERSON ALL THE OTHER NAMES FOR A PERSON OF ANY ETHNICITY YOU CAN THINK OF.
It's not like other races would say this to Italians, it was nothing more than a derogatory Italian on Italian slang term (Province against province, so forth and so forth). The dude who started this whole thing completely blew it out of proportion and is an idiot for doing so.
Why would Apple even take the slightest chance at hurting their reputation over this? The guy says it's up to Apple to research this stuff, this damn term is so obscure, most modern Italians aren't even aware of the word's slang meaning.
The guy thinks that Apple should apologize, over what? How would Apple know Terroni meant anything but something neutral or positive as it was a restaurant name? The dude whines on about other racist restaurant names, how common are these and how many are actually racist? Very, very few.
Bottom line:
We can be offended by anything if we allow it.
This IS NOT a generally accepted racist term. The idiot makes an argument about Skinheads using the term, however, the guy is from Sicily and racist rhetoric for peoples of that region is not Terroni.
You can call me Terroni all day long and I actually take it as a complement. To me it means salt of the earth, down to earth, humble...
There are no facts, only perceptions and interpretations.
Ps
Here is the Wiki article on the term translated from Italian to English:
http://74.125.95.132/translate_c?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrone&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dterroni%2Brazzismo%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den-us&usg=ALkJrhi9S0Xqr2TTWf3ZWjAtsWRKnGqq5w
Here is the Wiki article on the term translated from Italian to English:
http://74.125.95.132/translate_c?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrone&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dterroni%2Brazzismo%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den-us&usg=ALkJrhi9S0Xqr2TTWf3ZWjAtsWRKnGqq5w
Hey! You're all waters!*
OH MY GOD, BAN ME!!!
*Somewhere far away, in the obscurest of obscure places, "water" is a slang meaning you're lesser than... something. Or something.
OH MY GOD, BAN ME!!!
*Somewhere far away, in the obscurest of obscure places, "water" is a slang meaning you're lesser than... something. Or something.
This is, by far, the best free advertising this place has ever received. They probably love it.
Although I found the "get the full internet in your hand" Apple commercial as very misleading, anyone who thinks this is "racist" is ridiculous. C'mon, it's a real restaurant. If anything, be mad at the two Italians who own it.
Although I found the "get the full internet in your hand" Apple commercial as very misleading, anyone who thinks this is "racist" is ridiculous. C'mon, it's a real restaurant. If anything, be mad at the two Italians who own it.
Apple took it seriously and just took the comercial off the air due to that blog.
Apple Pulls TV Ad
I think that they did the right thing. They made a mistake and they fixed it.
Apple Pulls TV Ad
I think that they did the right thing. They made a mistake and they fixed it.
Lucky you now if only Salad King would do the same eh?
Sigh, I can't describe how incredibly lame this is. It's not like the restaurant has faced any public pressure to change it's name in the 17 years of operation.
Why are you perpetuating the notion that this is offensive? Do you have nothing better to worry about? You seem unable to take anything in context.
It's people like you that create the division we see all around us. There's no need to create such a fuss; the numerous Italians who have taken the time to post in this thread have clearly stated they take no offense; in fact, one takes the word as a compliment, meaning as it does 'salt of the earth'. Hell, we've even had an investor state he has no problem with it! That, together with the fact that the restaurant owners are Italian themselves, leaves no possible room for misinterpretation. And yet still you insist.
I believe some of this attitude stems, for many people, from having little contact with others of different races, ethnicities, religion or whatever. If I was to ***** foot around my best friend, for fear of offending him, he'd be horrified. And doubtlessly offended.
As for your suggestion that Apple consult the urban dictionary; let's have a look at their front page today:
teabagging - well, you know. The example they gave was particularly effective.
m4m (men seeking men in online chatrooms.)
ghetto upgrade (flying on an empty flight, and having the entire row to yourself)
Incidentally, I hope the last entry doesn't offend those living in less salubrious areas.
People need to nip this sort of thing in the bud, and I'm glad others have seen fit to do so in this thread.
Edit: I see you joined solely to post this thread. Probably won't see you around much longer, so the above was a waste of time!
Nah, not a waste - good post, man.
I agree - this is pretty embarrassing for all parties involved.
"Won't someone think of the CHILDREN!"
If Apple was really racist they would have featured the Urban Spoon entry for Denny's.
If Apple was really racist they would have featured the Urban Spoon entry for Denny's.
And Pizza Hut, both in the same commercial!
Yes, it is so nice to feel so welcome around here.
Maybe you should have a sticky that says that this is a private old boys club and then new people wont bother since you guys own it all and want to keep it to yourselfs. Very weird! 
I'm not Italian, but it sounds to me like "terroni" is similar in meaning to "campesino" (peasant, or farm worker) or "guajiro" (rustic) in Spanish. Both can have negative connotations depending on how they are used, but they also have positive ones in some instances. Hell, we call people hayseeds and rubes in the US, and I don't see terroni as any different.
This dude's a tool.
Holy overreaction Batman!
This whole thing is comical. It is comical that this guy is offended by the ad, which doesn't even use the "offensive" word which appears to be "Terrone". It is comical that Apple placated this guy by removing the ad. But the funniest thing is this quite from the article (emphasis mine):
Is he serious? Statements like this reaffirm this guy's massive overreaction and make me take anything he says with a grain of salt.
Don't people have better things to worry about other than the name of an restaurant that appears for 1 second in a commercial?
This whole thing is comical. It is comical that this guy is offended by the ad, which doesn't even use the "offensive" word which appears to be "Terrone". It is comical that Apple placated this guy by removing the ad. But the funniest thing is this quite from the article (emphasis mine):
Is he serious? Statements like this reaffirm this guy's massive overreaction and make me take anything he says with a grain of salt.
Don't people have better things to worry about other than the name of an restaurant that appears for 1 second in a commercial?
Like I said... some of the guys in here are seriusly weird. Now you think Apple was wrong to pull a racist ad. Yes, you guys know better than Apple. I bow down to your greatness.
We're not saying Apple shouldn't pull racist ads, we're questioning why anyone would consider this ad to be racist when it shows an app that shows a restaurant name that the general consensus says isn't racist. See the difference? If Apple runs an add in Italy that shows the Cracker Barrel on the Urban Spoon app, I wouldn't expect white Georgians to get all up in arms.
