Farangs outraged by Tesco Lotus commercial showing Thai maid being slapped (VIDEO)

[wabothai]

A must-watch for people who wonder why violence is so prevalent and accepted in Thai society.

correction: Asian society.

[gandalf12]

Want to see maid abuse? Go to the Gulf Middle East.

Agreed but they dont use it to advertise

[Aragorn]

Well I'm outraged, I think ?

[SOTIRIOS]

................all about 'class'...........

..........actually lack thereof.........

.........all imitation........a charade.....television or 'real life'...no difference.....

[Yann55]

whether the maid was hit is not the point. the point is the implication that within thai culture abuse of domestic help is acceptable.

Exactly. And not just within Thai culture but throughout all of Asia. I remember several recent stories of Filipino maids being abused in Singapore and Hong Kong, so obviously it's not just a Thai problem.

Interestingly, in Europe, it was also considered perfectly normal to hit one's servants until at least the end of the XIXth century, if not later. There are numerous examples in Shakespeare's plays, Moliere's, Brecht's, the Commedia dell'Arte, which show that it was common practice all over Europe, and for a long, long time. Needless to say, the official abolition of slavery in the US (1865) did not put an end to the abuse of servants, as Kathryn Stockett's remarkable novel 'The Help', set in the 1960s, perfectly illustrates.

So, when did things change, how and why ? Now, these are interesting questions.

Can such a change occur within the territory of Confucean cultures ? Another interesting question.

[Borzandy]

"Farangs outraged" farangs no understand thai culture.

[Dogmatix]

As a UK public company Tesco needs to exercise prudential oversight over its wholly owned Thai subsidiary or risk negative publicity at home. They seem content to sit back and letThai managers do disgraceful stuff that they know they could never get away with at home. This also spplies to their practice of selling cheap and dangerous electrical goods from China that would get someone put in prison in the UK.

[Dogmatix]

As a UK public company Tesco needs to exercise prudential oversight over its wholly owned Thai subsidiary or risk negative publicity at home. They seem content to sit back and letThai managers do disgraceful stuff that they know they could never get away with at home. This also spplies to their practice of selling cheap and dangerous electrical goods from China that would get someone put in prison in the UK.

[tuanku]

Everyone says we must create equality — men and women deserve the same rights and can do the same good and bad things. Oh, if you all think so, the Thai society will deteriorate!

Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha

29 Jan 2016

[Veritas48]

Next !!!Why would anybody get upset?

You can see her hand never touched the girl.

Too many farangs with nothing to do but complain.

.

Ah, the irony...

Ironic indeed!Just like the letters in the Bangkok Post whingeing about someone who is whingeing...they don't get it!!!

[n210mp]

Next !!!Why would anybody get upset?

You can see her hand never touched the girl.

Too many farangs with nothing to do but complain.

.

You as usual are missing the whole point of this genuine objection to a disgraceful advertisement.

Just lately Colin you are putting your foot in your mouth on a regular basis.

Im not going to waste my time attempting to explain why this behaviour, advert or not, actors or not is disgraceful, what is disgraceful is that you and apparently others on here cannot read into this BS anything other than nothing!

[sawadee1947]

Whether she hit her or not is not the point; nor is it in soap operas. The fact is that in actual as opposed to virtual life it happens regularly.

and what is your point?

[gerry1011]

Farangs are quickly outraged.

What a boring society.

[DM07]

"The Thai-language advert, which is meant to be light-hearted and targeted at a Thai audience, shows the maid dropping a plate of crisps into the lap of her boss who then gets up and slaps the maid across the face."

Oooooohhh...the light- heartedness of domestic violence and class-divide!

I am so amused!

The guys, who did this ad and the ones defending it, should be slapped in the face a few times!

Just for the light- heartedness of it!

[jpduggan]

No no it's OK in Thailand unless one or both are scantily clad and performing sexually provocative dancing like the models at the car show!

[bushdoctor]

This is another case of westerners judging a culture foreign to their own through western eyes. There are high tolerance cultures and low tolerance cultures. Ours in the west is low tolerance. I am not saying I agree with slapping the maid, but simply that this is not the west.

[tomyumchai]

i heard the origonal script was for a policeman to get thrown onto the bonnet of a speeding ferrari but wais a 'mai bpen rai' when the driver throws a packet of snacks out the window to dislodge him.....

[Linden]

14 year old mentality +

Slapstick comedy =

Asia

Regardless of IQ Background or Occupation

Mental age never. Over 14

[TKDfella]

Oh my heart cries out! Where can I find a maid like that who will spill them over me? What a great chance for a a gentle 'There, there. It doesn't matter.' (accompanied by a hand around the waist and an evil grin,heh, heh). Just joking fellas.

[Maggusoil]

Much ado about nothing

[eldragon]

And who apologizes for using "farang" in print media?

[Jonathan Swift]

She didn't even slap her. Her hand was actually about 6 inches from her face. Farangs with nothing better to do. I think they may be getting upset with all the news about Thais being outraged about this and that and don't want to be outdone.

Get a life people, It's a commercial.

I've seen much worse in commercials and programs in various other countries.

OK, I'm going to TRY to let you in on how the world works and hand you a clue. Those of us with a bit of maturity know that this is ACTING and it is a DEPICTION of someone getting slapped. OK? we get that. Just as we know that the crying broken hearted girl is neither crying nor broken hearted. And people shot in movies don't really die. What you can't seem to wrap your mind around is the offensive nature of the depiction of a boss seriously abusing a female servant/employee as if it were acceptable behavior. Your comment is calloused and indifferent. You are apparently too numb and insensitive to such issues to understand the public reaction. That's on you, it's not us. The degradation and abuse of women is a serious cross cultural issue, in Thailand and elsewhere, and anyone who appears to portray it in a deliberately demeaning manner especially in a commercial promoting a product, with about the same insensitivity as you apparently have, deserves to be pilloried, as do you for making light of it. And as to what's worse in other countries I can tell you this kind of thing not tolerated in the US. And let me add there is a big difference between genuine and legitimate dramatic portrayal of violence in a story line and frivolous unnecessary degradation. So here's another clue. What's in the movies is not the same as something like this. And video games aren't real. This commercial was frivolous and made light of something which was quite serious and hurtful. In the US you don't cast a black person in a subservient role such as picking cotton or shining shoes in a commercial to sell clothes or cars or anything. Why? Because slavery and racism and servitude of black people under white supremacy is a horrible legacy in OUR country. But if a movie tells a story in which slavery and racism is part of a legitimate plot line in which its basic truth is not otherwise degrading to black people it's a WHOLE different matter. If it's a comedic portrayal in can be done in a way that is not offensive. If you have trouble getting this ask a woman to explain it to you, preferably a black or african woman. Meanwhile, we are farangs with a heart and a moral conscience, and of the things we have that are "better" to do, this is one of them. To speak out on behalf of the way women are portrayed, and in fact regarded in real life.

Edited March 31, 2016 by Jonathan Swift

[bushdoctor]

It is not the US, it's Thailand.

[flyingdoc]

What exactly is all the fuss about? This was a commercial advert in poor taste!

[wabothai]

This is another case of westerners judging a culture foreign to their own through western eyes. There are high tolerance cultures and low tolerance cultures. Ours in the west is low tolerance. I am not saying I agree with slapping the maid, but simply that this is not the west.

Anything wrong with questioning and reacting to uncivilized behavior being aired by a major corporation?

[ttthailand]

Slapping the maid, why not the maid slap your mother. Wouldn't that get more of a laugh ?

[wabothai]

This is another case of westerners judging a culture foreign to their own through western eyes. There are high tolerance cultures and low tolerance cultures. Ours in the west is low tolerance. I am not saying I agree with slapping the maid, but simply that this is not the west.

Anything wrong with questioning and reacting to uncivilized behavior being aired by a major corporation?

[bushdoctor]

This is another case of westerners judging a culture foreign to their own through western eyes. There are high tolerance cultures and low tolerance cultures. Ours in the west is low tolerance. I am not saying I agree with slapping the maid, but simply that this is not the west.

Anything wrong with questioning and reacting to uncivilized behavior being aired by a major corporation?

I don't condone slapping anyone either, just pointing out that many judge a culture based on their own culture. It's an exercise in futility.

[silent]

"The Thai-language advert, which is meant to be light-hearted and targeted at a Thai audience, shows the maid dropping a plate of crisps into the lap of her boss who then gets up and slaps the maid across the face.

But in the next scene when the boss is told by the maid that Tesco Lotus has a promotion offering huge discounts, she says to the maid “Mai pen rai,” or It’s okay.”

What sort of dumb #@%*, dip sh$t, <deleted> wit moron thinks this a good idea?

It's not humorous, it's just violence.

Unfortunately it's a common mentality and not just in Thailand. You do what you feel like with no consequence as long as you say you're sorry.

[smotherb]

What a bunch of cry babies. The young one purposely tossed the plate of chips in the face of the older one; she deserved to be slapped.