‘Respect’ Image Apology
January 18, 2011
Yesterday we at Thalia Surf sent out a newsletter announcing our MLK Day Sale. In no way did we intend to hurt or offend anyone. For those that took offense or disrespect we truly are sorry. We took down the ad for our sale to hopefully calm the waters and in the future will be more careful in our selection of promotions. We appreciate the support from customers and patrons of Thalia Surf that know us and know that we meant no harm. Thanks.
Nick Cocores
Owner, Thalia Surf
ebb and flow | 35 Comments
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35 Responses to “‘Respect’ Image Apology”
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Dude,
It wasn’t racist really. It was just plain stupid and insensitive. I’m a black surfer. I didn’t get all hot and bothered by the ad (although I will admit that I thought the picture was cool). It did, however, make me think twice about patronizing a surf shop that would think such an ad was funny, respectful, acceptable or even innocent. Race is still a sensitive issue in this country, so you’ve got to tread lightly in that area . . . even in 2011.
Surfsis
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I’m a “nice white lady” and I was taken aback by your ad. I love and have grown up around the surfer culture, so I know you meant no harm.
But even ignorance can hurt. Try to imagine a possible correlation: using Mother Theresa’s image to say “10% off all white lady perfume!” It’s trivializing and distasteful.
Racism runs deep, and the wounds are not fully healed, no matter what the law says. Let’s not pour salt on them.
Thanks for reading
Wow, I don’t know what to say! I just read about your sale/promotion and was taken a back, put-off and frankly pissed-off. I came to your site to let my feelings be known.
I had written-off your organization as just another in a long list of organizations who dismiss my culture, people, and community.
You see, yesterday, I learned thatthe Govenor of Arizona removed all ethnic studies classes from the highschool curriculum and Representatives in Tennessee are requesting the pre-civil war African-American experience be taken out of school books.
So, today, when I read about your promotion you were just another organization eager to dismiss and erase the history and culture of my community.
I was pleasantly surprised and very excited to see that you in fact are not like those other organizations and I THANK YOU for your consideration.
I don’t surf, but I am thinking of taking swimming lessons for the 3rd time. If I ever decide to surf in Laguna Beach CA, I promise to come to Thalia Surf Shop.
I will be certain to go back to that website and let everyone know what you have done.
Thanks again Mr. Corcores and staff.
the only people that would take offense to the ad, are racists. the promotion was created out of respect and in honor of MLK. the movement MLK helped push along was for the betterment of all people, not just black people. what i cant stand are black people under 30 like me who try to act like they know what racism is really about, we have no idea what our ancestors had to go through. black people in general need to realize this is a different world now and stop trying to act like they are still victims.
I thought it was FUNNY. Not PC but funny. But not all funny things are meant to be PC.
watch. process. if not understood, please repeat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0Ti-gkJiXc
@dibidy You saided: “the only people that would take offense to the ad, are racists” Comments like that by people claiming to be “black” is an example of the hatred and ignorance that this ad will generate. This is NOT about acting like victims but about respect. We currently have a black president that doesn’t receive a fraction of the respect that previous white presidents have IMO due to his race. This ad reflexes that mentality. At a time when society is marginalizing everything from 400 yrs of slavery to Jim Crow what sites like this do is trivialize the importance of African American Leaders like Dr King. I was offended by this ad. Maybe they did this to generate traffic to their website by appealing to some type of racist teabag fraction I don’t know. But make no mistake intentional or not it was racially insensitive and I serious question the motives of those involved in this ad. All you have to do is check out the internet to see how racist crawl from under their rock to support anything that’s racially offensive. I wont be surprise if this site is flooded with racist comments supporting that ad.
Wow! Dbidy…. really? Bravo, on your conclusion. People know it was not done intentionally out of disrespect for African Americans or MLKJ. YOu don’t see people getting all bent out of shape because of “Black Friday”. All people are trying to say is to be careful of how you do things. Don’t let your good be evil spoken of; but I’ll tell you what I found disrespectful. What I find disrespectful is that you say that “black people like yourself who are under 30″ does not understand what their ancestors went through. That statement is just ignorant. Racism is still very much alive today! It might not be lynching and whippings and cross burnings that were so very blatant back then but RACISM is still very much here. I, myself am a witness to it. This is the perfect example of what the people above had stated with “Ignorance can hurt.” Apparently, you yourself have not been a victim of racism because if you have, you would not have been so quick to post what you did above. Oh…I’m sorry, do I sound judgmental, didn’t mean to but this is exactly the kind of offense others take when reading your post; especially black people. Segregation was ONLY 40 years ago. Take some time and read a “black” history book, though it is not as blatant as not being able to sit down in the same area of someone of a different race, I say again that racism is still very much alive! So please next time if you want to state your opinion, speak for yourself.
P.S. To Thalia,
Thank you so much for your humbleness in stating an apology. This shows that you really did not mean to offend anyone. Just be more careful of how you do things so that people won’t take your actions the wrong way.
Congrats – you made Failblog:
http://failblog.org/2011/01/18/epic-fail-photos-mlk-holiday-sale-fail/
Seriously, how could you have thought that was a good idea? I’m glad you were smart enough to take it down quickly.
I just read the news article in regards to your MLK SALE and I personally thought it was a fun and original way to advertise. I didnt find it to be discriminatory at all. I guess JC Penney and Macys needs to stop their annual White Sale, huh. I applaud you for your unique approach to marketing.
(this is coming from the white half of an interracial couple)
We the people of the United States, must learn to show respect for each other AND resist the knee jerk assumption that someone is trying to disrespect you when they do things such as this.
It would have been far better if others in the community gathered at the store, admired the products, thanked you for YOUR expression of respect for MLK and then expressed THEIR communities feeling about the image.
To me it sounds like the MLK/surfer thing was no more demeaning than the various images that have included the face of George Washington!
I feel that if we can’t get along here in the US, then the world may not EVER get along with each other.
We are still the melting pot.
Why should you be sorry about this? it was Martin Luther King jr…IN A WETSUIT. I read about this in the SFGATE and at first I thought “Wow, were the shop employees dressed up in blackface?”
But no, it was just a clever ad campaign and that was it! Would the same broo-ha ha been raised had it been George Washington in a wetsuit?
Don’t be sorry for a buit of cleverness. The politically correct culturue of the United States has made it so no one is allowed to have fun anymore. God forbid you hurt someones feelings.
And for the record, I told a few of my black friends about this and they thought it was hilarious. They said most of the time the people that scream and rage about this the most are…lol, WHITE PEOPLE! They just don’t understand it.
Neither do I.
Great shop though! Best of continued success!
your “creative” team, or at least your art director may have been out sick (not using “sick” as a surfing term), the day his/her arts professor covered advertising art and social work.. How not to use it. Im sure an innocent mistake.
As an African American male make I’m scratching my head trying to figure out what was racist or insensitive in your ad. To my way of thinking you’ve got nothing for which to apologize. I think it was a great idea and quite creative. I would encourage you to think up more ads that mght encourage Black youth with the economic means to take up surfing. What’s really insensitive to my mind is the King family selling images of the “I Have a Dream” speech for use in television commercials, or a Macy’s MLK Day white sale.Dr. King on a surfboard? I love it!
Sigh. I think that people take themselves way to seriously and although your promotion was BOLD, it wasn’t meant to be offensive. If anything, it raised awareness.
Get over yourselves Laguna.
I am a 55 year old black man born and raised in So. Cal. I’ve seen racism first hand and have the utmost respect for Dr. King and the things he did for all of us.
I have nothing but love for you guys to bring the name of Dr. King to those who probably never thought twice about who or what he was. If you put George Washington in a wet suit ad on Presidents Day no one would have said a peep. I know you have to be politically correct and apologize because the press tries to blow everything out of porportion (especially when it comes to race) but tell ‘em to get over it. If a 55 yearold Black man isn’t insulted they shouldn’t be either!
Next time I’m in Laguna I’m coming in to buy a Black tee-shirt! I will expect the sale price though:-)!!
Any moron would have taken one look at the ad and seen that it would be controversial. So, either the owner and or the ad manager are incredibly clueless or desiring free publicity. Either way, a stupendously great reason to shop at your local surf shop as opposed to landlocked posers working out of a warehouse.
Ha ha, wow, political correctness run amock.
I remember when this country had more fun with itself and didn’t have a stick rammed up it’s collective a$$
Interesting the range of comments. I love the pro ad responses are majority black males.
Considering the racial climate in our country, I would defer from using such an Ad. Art is subjective and clearly there is an audience for that picture (underground). Just not public consumers.
I think of the samething when it comes to images of Che Guevara. It’s so pop culture, most wear his image and have no clue who the man represents.
Let’s not trivialize the meaning of revolution and its impact on society. What’s next Rosa Parks on images of Spanx?
Wake up America! And no my racial/ethnic background has nothing to do with my opinion. Just know I’m brown and Beautiful.
Babeoh
it’s all good bro. Non-racist people just don’t see how things can be misinterpreted.
-nativeBUZZ
It’s just a shame that there is FAR more racial hostility in the comments than in the ad itself. Political Correctness is a cancer that eats our society from the inside and Dr. MLK was against it. Kudos for trying to have a sense of humor!
Let me start by saying that I am a black resident proudly residing in Laguna Beach. While your ad may have been what some consider to be offensive, I found it to be quite amusing (actually I’m still laughing). In a politically correct sense, don’t get me wrong, a little more sensitivity or better judgment could have definitely been used.
The thought of MLK in a wet suit with a board under one arm is far more thought provoking to me than spending the “holiday” readdressing the injustices of the past 50 – 400 years. My vision of MLK today catching sets with his surf buddies of all colors at Brooks St, are far more realistic than what my parents could have ever imagined. While this line of thinking may not serve me well in the black community, it is genuine and it is real.
The Jessie Jackson’s, Al Sharpton’s and this local buffoon Earl Ofari Hutchison make their living by living in the past. Sometimes I am puzzled at who truly are the racists? While each of them in their own right have carried the torch for racial injustice, you have to wonder is all the attention that this ad has provoked done what any of them intended? Last time I checked, money is green. If I needed another wetsuit, I probably would have given serious consideration to placing an order online (of course with a note that said you folks are gonna get some heat over this one) for a 20% discount.
But really, wouldn’t it be amazing if we could all put this political correctness to bed and focus on the real issues that we as a nation are faced with today? Children wounded in schools, multiple wars, an economy on the brink, etc.
To make my point clearer, I was fortunate enough to run across another article today (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/18/AR2011011806146_2.html?hpid=news-col-blog) that noted the passing of one of oldest black people in the US. She lived to be 113 and passed away recently. The woman was just one generation away from slavery. She had probably seen and experienced more pain and hurt than I ever will. One of the keys to her longevity was that she didn’t live with anger and resentment. The writer of the article made a profound statement that I think sums it up best. He said “If a black woman who grew up in Louisiana during the post-Reconstruction era could live without anger and resentment, perhaps those of us whose lives hadn’t been nearly as rough could also do without those poisonous emotions.” I say Bravo!
Keep up the good work that you do in the community. Remember that this too shall pass.
Ps. Next year when MLK day comes around shoot me a note with your next MLK Day Sale announcement and I’ll let you know if you need to get out the sensitivity training handbook.
Respect
Is it a case of being ignorant or clueless or BOTH?!
i thought it was funny.
I’m not a surfer but I am a black american and I saw nothing that showed anything racially sensitive. I thought the picture was nice & brought MLK, Jr. to the 21st century. I also thought that it was nice of you to do something in rememberance of the slain civil rights fighter.
You guys at Thalia rock, We support you 100% Anyone who has ever walked in your store knows that you guys are top of the line when it comes to customer service and meant no harm. We however do not agree with putting Dr. King in a Matuse suit? Matuse was founded in 1999, maybe an Oneil and people would not be so upset.
Dude!
THE FIRST WORD ON THE ADD WAS RESPECT……
You should not have taken down the ad. To any of those who even think it could be offensive CHILL! I thought that MLK was all about equality and peace between races…wouldn’t that mean that this ad is entirely appropriate?
I think it was a clever ad. But hey, either way you got the article linked to CNN so you should be seeing some serious site traffic!
I’m still on the floor laughing. I don’t know which is funnier – the add or some of the PC responses. Thanks for the laugh. I can hardly wait for Patriot’s Day.
Stupid? Sure.
But no more stupid than Macy’s and Sears with their MLK “White Sales”.
When will Corporate America give this holiday the respect it deserves?
Then again, the early Amercans would have been aghast at George Washington doing a Toyota ad also.
Un-creativity at its worst!
I thought it was hilarious. I knew it was a joke the first second I saw it. Why aren’t people seeing that? It’s clear you weren’t trying to be offensive at all. I mean…seriously…there’s enough TV shows out there like Tosh.0 for example (which I also LOVE) that make fun of people/races/sexual preference all the time. I don’t get why this is any different. It’s making light of the “serious” in life.
It wasn’t racist just ignorant, and not in a funny way, just dumb.
It reminds me of when a few white guys are talking and one of them decides to mix in a racial joke because the the jokes target is nowhere around.
and the others look at him like an idiot.
well you guys are THAT idiot.
Thought the add was great but am baffled to say the least. After 400 years why is the race dialogue still going on? Seems to me it’s like some appetite that needs to be constantly fed. We only need to see each other in the light of individuals instead of color and we’d all be in a much better place.
I missed the ad….it sure seems that no harm was intended. We need to live, laugh, and love one another as we evolve and not take ourselves so seriously.
Peace
Wow!!! I couldn’t believe my eyes!!! The craziest thing in all of this is how you didn’t think anyone would be offended… That’s the part I can’t get.. How could anyone could think this is not racist is beyond me… That’s just it, racist people don’t think, they just do without a thought…..
Actually, that’s wrong. Racist people do think, and they intend to harm others. We thought, and concluded that our customers, along with our staff, are beyond racial tensions and could all share a laugh AND bring awareness to MLK Day in a respectful way. Some people didn’t agree with us, and to them we apologized, as we meant no harm. Thanks for your opinion though Salim.