Tyler, the Creator Responds to Mountain Dew Controversy: “There’s no type of hate being portrayed in that work of art at all”
A couple of days ago we reported that PepsiCo decided to pull a Mountain Dew ad directed by Tyler, the Creator due to claims that the commercial–one of three in a series–was racist.
Now, Tyler, the Creator has issued a response to all of the criticism and speaks directly to Dr. Boyce Watkins, one of the commercials most vocal critics.
…There’s no type of hate being portrayed in that work of art at all — which I’m confused by. But this older black dude, Dr. Boyce Watkins, I guess he found it racist because I was portraying stereotypes, which is ridiculous because, one, all of those dudes [in the line-up] are my friends….
It’s a black guy making this, and if it’s so racist and feeding into stereotypes, why in the first commercial that goes along with it, is there a black male with his Asian wife? In the second commercial, it’s a black male with a professional job as a police officer listening to hardcore rock music — which supposedly the stereotype is that black people don’t listen to that…
[…]
But he has to realize that it’s a different generation now. He’s way older than me; he’s old enough to be my father. So I totally get why he would think that, but I also don’t understand why in life are you trying to point out the negatives. It’s a young black man who got out of the ‘hood and made something of himself, who’s now working with big, white-owned corporations. Not even in front of the camera acting silly, but directing it. I’m trying to be one of the directors. But instead of looking at the positivity from that, he’s trying to boycott Mountain Dew. Now that he’s doing that, not only is it messing up opportunities for me, but also maybe opportunities for another young black male who maybe looks up to me and wants to do that in the future. It’s ludicrous…
Does Tyler’s response and/or knowledge of his music change your perspective of the ad?
Does Tyler not understand the ramifications of the images he portrays, or is it certain audience members that just don’t get it?
Sound off below!!!!