New TV Ad Points Out Hypocrisy In 'Redskins' Slur
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The fight to change offensive sports team nicknames has been waging for decades.
In fact, protests took place during the Twins' 1991 World Series against the Atlanta Braves, as well as Washington's appearance when Minnesota hosted the 1992 Super Bowl.
But Native American activists are now putting the biggest target on Washington's NFL franchise.
The team will face the Vikings on Sunday, along with a crowd of angry protesters outside TCF Bank Stadium.
"To sit in the stands and the stadiums with the war chants and tomahawk chop, it definitely has an impact on the identities and well-being of our children," David Glass, a member of the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media, said.
To help focus the outrage, Twin Cities ad agency Red Circle is making a point.
They produced an ad with a diverse group of ethnicities, during which each person voicing their specific offensive slurs which are bleeped out.
"We wanted to make it as hard to ignore as possible," Chad Germann, owner of Red Circle, said.
Germann is also a member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwa and says the idea grew out of his agency's creative brainstorming.
"This was kind of obnoxious. So I liked it because it just sort of punches you in the face with what we believe, Native Americans believe is the issue," he said.
Germann's ad is already getting national attention on major sports shows and networks.
Clearly, the TV spot is hitting hard and can't be ignored.
It will part of the campaign to push for Washington's nickname to be bleeped for good.
It uses a pointed hypocrisy at the end of the spot, when viewers see a Native American man stating, "I am a Redskin," which is noticeably not bleeped from the spot.
"Using those really terrible words, coming from innocent faces, that was the idea. You can't ignore that," he said.
The ad can be viewed online.