With all this controversy around the One Stop Jihadi Superstore aka Lowes, (as Aasif Mandvi oh so eloquently put it in this Daily Show bit) and their caving to a Christian fringe extremist organization (as Phillygrrl blogged about here), it was only a matter of time before the ads that were pulled off air for the TLC show All American-Muslim took the viral airwaves. Exclusively for Sepia Mutiny mutineers, we were able dig up one of these lost commercials starring former Outsourced stars Rizwan Manji & Parvesh Cheena.
As the token Muslim mutineer, I will attest, my folks also have holiday lights up at their house, I buy candy canes and we even mail out holiday cards. This parody ain’t so far from the truth. Happy holidays, from our mutiny to yours!!
P.S – Continue to boycott, sign petitions and write letters to Lowes – it’s been a week and they still haven’t come up with an acceptable response. And while you are at, boycott the website Kayak.com too for their backhanded apology for pulling their ads off the show. But do support Russel Simmons and all his business ventures for buying ad space when no other corporations were willing to.
Maybe it’s because I like Kayak.com as a service. But I actually think they’ve handled their mea culpa as well and as transparently as possible. I think it’d be helpful to link directly to their apology. And I agree, their competency is being a travel site, not advertising in mixed media. That said, Lowes is whack. And thanks for the post! Here’s the link to kayak’s apology: http://www.kayak.com/news/we-handled-this-poorly.bd.html
~Shehan
@Shehan – I thought the update to Kayak’s apology was worse. First they’re all “We love tolerance and diversity, America, forefathers, blah blah blah” and the second “explanation” was “Oh we just want to avoid controversy.” Which is it? Seems a little conflicting, right? And WTH is controversial about a reality show starring (gasp!) normal people?
Taz: HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU TOO. The cultural war between those who follow Islam and other religions or beliefs of the world is a sad story of our human race. Reminds me of a Ghazal by the Master Mirza Ghalib when he wonders what this is all about: “Jab ki Tuz bin aur Koi nahi Maujood Phir yeh Hangama ya Khuda Kya Hein?
On a side note, what is the problem with Dinesh D’Souza, throws Hinduisim under the bus whenever he feels like. Is he sorry, he was born a poor brown boy in a non-white part of the world. How disingenious can one get.
Your blog is so informative..
And while supporting Russel Simmons, do note that he is a practicing hindu; someone who, unlike some of my exclusivist co-religionists like, ASMA society, who help only fellow muslims, will stand shoulder to shoulder with anyone facing bias, irrespective of color or creed. Imagine an org. named, American Society for Hindu Advancement, which I am sure would be shunned by progressive Hindu, Muslim, Christian & Sikhs south asians, yet ASMA or American Society for Muslim Advancement and its south-asian founder are lauded, shamefully.