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Subscribe to RSSRam trucks Super Bowl "Farmer" ad struck a chord with viewers, and raised eyebrows among some Latinos who felt it didn't accurately portray the face of modern farming.
Ram's "Farmer" ad resonated with many Super Bowl viewers on Sunday but missed the mark with some Latino groups that criticized the commercial as a "white-washed" portrayal of a bygone era in America.
The two-minute Chrysler Group spot features a slideshow of mainly white American farmers and their families set to a recording of deceased radio personality Paul Harvey intoning a folksy paean to the ruggedness and determination of the American farmer.
"And on the eighth day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, 'I need a caretaker.' So God made a farmer," went the crackly recording, a speech Harvey made at a 1978 convention of what is now known as the National FFA (Future Farmers of America) Organization, a youth group dedicated to promoting agricultural education. "God said, 'I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the field, milk cows again, eat supper, then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board.' So God made a farmer."
The commercial left some wondering: Where are all the Latinos?
"It's a white-washed ad," said Axel Caballero, founder of Cuéntame, a Latino nonprofit. "(The) composition of America has changed. The faster brands understand that, the better they're going to do."
In response, Cuéntame uploaded its remixed version of the Ram truck ad to its Facebook page, keeping the audio but replacing some of the photos with images of Latino farmworkers. Cuéntame's caption to the post read, " 'God made a farmer' ad - K, we fixed it!"
The video, which also includes a link to the LatinoRebels Facebook page, went viral on the social media network, generating 3.5 million extended network impressions, Caballero said. In the days following the tweaked video's release, users uploaded two more versions that similarly "fixed" the Ram ad with Latino farmworker imagery.
The number of U.S. farms peaked at 6.8 million in 1935. Today, there are more than 2 million American farms, of which about 180,000 account for more than 63 percent of all agricultural products sold, according to data from the 2007 USDA Census of Agriculture.
As for the faces of farmers in America, 71 percent of agricultural workers in the U.S. were born in Mexico and Central America, according to a 2011 U.S. Department of Labor National Agricultural Workers Survey. Just 29 percent of U.S. farm workers were born in the USA and Puerto Rico.
"This is weird," said Julio Ricardo Varela, an NBC Latino contributor and founder of LatinoRebels.com, after he saw the commercial. In a column for NBC Latino, he wrote that "the reaction via the Latino social media space has been overwhelmingly negative for the simple reason that the commercial does not reflect the reality of the farming industry in the United States."
Chrysler, which manufactures the Ram, has declared 2013 "The Year of the Farmer" in a year-long initiative aimed at bringing national attention to the significance of the American farmer, the automaker said in a fact sheet emailed to TODAY. "The 'Farmer' video uses slices of farming life to remind us of our shared identity and character, the greatness born out of perseverance and determination, and the rewards that come from hard work."
The spot featured documentary photographs of real farmers the brand commissioned from 10 photographers, including William Albert Allard, noted for his National Geographic work, and Kurt Markus, who is celebrated for his images of cowboys.
The Ram truck is built in two plants, one in Warren, Mich., the other in Saltillo, Mexico. Italian automaker Fiat purchased Chrysler Group LLC in 2009 and owns a 58.5 percent share.
Chrysler Communications Manager Eileen Wunderlich said the carmaker is "getting all kinds of requests" about the Ram Super Bowl commercial, and one for Jeep that run during the game, but is "not making any comment whatsoever about the ad." She said the Ram brand makes a donation to the FFA for every YouTube view, download or share and "would like the video and the initiative behind it to speak for itself." The fundraising goal is $1 million to be used for the FFA's hunger relief efforts.
The FFA counts 560,000 members, serving both urban and rural communities, with chapters in 17 out of the 20 major U.S. cities, said Robert Cooper, executive director of the National FFA Foundation. The ad, which has over 6 million YouTube hits and continues to spread three days after the Super Bowl, has “really struck a chord with how important agriculture is in this country” across all sectors, he said.
That includes positive reactions from African-American and Latinos.
“No matter who you are, or where you work in the agricultural industry, this ad is about celebrating your contribution to America and that you are part of America’s number one employer,” said Cooper.
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You know, it seems that so many people have their "I'm offended" sensitivity meters cranked way too high. I'm sure those producing the ad have no intentions of offending anybody, after all that's counterproductive to their purpose. Were there any hmong on the ad? If not, should they be offended?
Come to the central Valley in California during strawberry season.The Hmong farmers work hard and grow a lot of the strawberries here.They work so hard that they do not have time to get into petty debates.
superb comment
I've been to central valley (grew up in San Diego and drove to Sacto regulary). They do indeed work hard and we owe them bigtime for their role in Vietnam. God bless 'em!
how come the ad didn't mention the 4 billion in farm subsudies distributed to farmers so they don't grow. weird. i guess when white people get it, they deserve it./
My momma used to always say "Oh, grow up!!!!"
RIP, momma.
I didn't even watch the ad. Or the Super Bowl.
I am totally pissed off!! They did not show me in that commercial so where are the non-farmers? We are not being represented! I have been driving Dodge trucks since 1993 so they should show me too. All non-farmers should be protesting this issue.
One possible solution is to not have a Stupid Bowl and that would take care of all the ads. There, problem solved!
OK now what the F--- is the difference the new video is just as racist as the old one. Now there is only Hispanic in the video. If you was claiming to be anti-racist then wouldn't you include some of all races in your new video so that another couldn't call you racist. Truth be known in this day and age if it wasn't for the whiners there would be very little racism. Because all the (better cover your ears because I know this is going to flair some tempers for the words I am about to use) Because all the @!$%#'s, spic's, nips, kikes, crackers, whatever offending racist labels used, are in reality non-cuss words for the @!$%#s, dickheads, and @!$%#s of a particular race. And every race has them. This is my opinion. Just saying
...if Mr. Cabellero was so concerned about creating awareness of the large numbers of Hispanics representing certain segments of society.....he should have told you there are many more Hispanics doing felony time in America's Federal prisons than there are Hispanic farmers.....alot more....
Just make sure you show how the Mexican Illegal farmers don't wash their had after using the bathroom... they don't teach this in Mexico!
People need to get a life and stop whining. Women can't stand to be 'left out' when men huddle to keep a secret. It drives them nuts, yet women seem to believe it is their 'right of personal space' to keep secrets from men, no exceptions. The hypocrisy is glaring and astounding. How many Caucasian actors appear on BET sitcoms and shows? That would be pretty much ZERO. We have become a Nation of absurd, mentally challenged, racial, religious, and gender hypocrites. Whine, whine, whine, that's all we ever do any more. This is the 'what about me' generation and another prime example why space aliens HOVER and do NOT land on this planet. No intelligent life on this rock.
Latinos, blacks, gays, other minorities and a certain number of women all seem to try to find a way to be offended by white guys. They will go out of their way to complain and whine and put their own self serving spin on things to claim to be the victim. Truth is the real victims are the people they claim to be offended by because the so called minorities only want to get ahead by being favored and protected in this farce of a politically correct world we live in. They are the real racists. The whites that grew up in the '60's and 70's opened the door to these people and look what they got in return......a bunch of snivelling whining complainers.
So they want us to rewrite history? Go back to your own country if you're going to complain about ours. Try and change your own country instead of ours.... oh wait that'd be too easy
Ok what the F--- difference is this? Now there is only Hispanics in the video. Wouldn't you if you were calling something racist, include some of all the races in your new video so that someone else couldn't call your new video racist also? Truth be known if it wasn't for all the whiners crying racism and keeping the talk going, there would be very little true racism. Because all the (better cover your ears because I know the words I am going to use is going to fire a lot of people up) Because all the ofending words n!gger, spic, nip, kike, cracker, and so on are just non-cuss words for all the a$$holes, dickheads, and coc-suckers of each race. And all races have them. This is my opinion. Just Saying.
uhm... I don't know of any farmers who ccan afford this truck; most of them are on some sort of 'gubmint sistince' and make possilby $12k a year
I would guess you don't know of many farmers then. A pickup truck is the tool of the trade, apparently like sarcasm is a tool of yours.
Well it won't be long before we find out the Pinta, Nina and the Santa Maria were all filled with minorities, and all of the people who signed the declaration of Independence were minorities too. As a matter of fact, I am pretty sure that white people had nothing to do with the success of the US and they just rode on the coat tails of the small fraction on minorities there were in the country a long time ago.
No, White people were the only ones smart enough to write the constitution. Almost every worthwhile invention in the whole wide world was created by White people. Why? Because on average; Whites are 15 IQ points above the rest of the world. That folks is a huge difference. Whites have superior intellects.
Looks like a lot of people here need to pull their collective heads out of their collective butts and act like Americans. If they don't like that, they should just hightail it back where they came from and were so much better off. GET OVER IT!!!
check the corner liquor store, or behind it.
Just like the MSM to turn over every rock to find SOMETHING wrong with such a uplifting, inspirational commercial; must have been too God-friendly for MSNBC. The truth is, one could have taken any of the Super Bowl commercials and found something in any of them to offend a PC hand-wringer's thin-skinned sensibilities. Give it a rest MSNBC! Besides, who doesn't like Paul Harvey? An America-hating loser, that's who. Sorry, but you people lost Middle America (the same people Elitists look down on and loathe) on this issue.
If this was how the original ad was made, then the makers would be called racists and the latino community would be banging on their doors with pitchforks and torches.
This is one of those damned if you do, damned if you don't ones that you just walk away from.
These are not the droids we're looking for. Move along.
Since when is it racist or otherwise to celebrate the "white" contribution to our society? I'm not saying that this commercial is doing this, but by exclaiming the exclusion of a group of people in an attempt to elevate your status is in itself exclusionary. I endured without complaint affirmative action, but now I am really feeling like roles have reversed here. Oh, wait! Everyone gets a trophy except for the white guy who has had one for the last "400" years. Can we just knock this crap off already? One step forward N+1 back... :S
Because Whites are more intelligent, the rest of the world is just jealous.
"...a 1978 convention of what is now known as the National FFA (Future Farmers of America) Organization..." What is NOW known as the FFA? In 1964, Roger Miller's "Chug A Lug" reached #9 on the charts and the second verse begins: "4 H and FFA, On a field trip to the farm, Me and friend sneek off behind, This big old barn, Where we uncovered a covered up Moonshine still..."
I loved that ad.I will never need to buy a pickup and have never worked on a farm.As an American I believe in freedom of speech and this commercial was exercising theirs.People who are complaining about what they feel is lack of representation of their race can go out and make their own advertisements.This is America and we are a capitalist loving country.
thats what I say
On the fixed video I'm offended. Where are the whites?Oh wait, i can not say that or I'd be racist right? And the racial wars begin in America. It's about to get very ugly! Amnesty=war
Obama takes the credit for starting any race war. He is insulting to whites by claiming to be black. He was raised by Whites in a White culture, educated at White Universities, yet claims to be black. He is an insult and a bad joke.
Obama takes the credit for starting any race war. He is insulting to whites by claiming to be black. He was raised by Whites in a White culture, educated at White Universities, yet claims to be black. He is an insult and a bad joke.
Maybe the video should have shown the farmer picking up the latinos from the home depot.
I think all Latinos should boycott Chrysler. Compra un camion desde Ford, ese.
Full disclosure; I own Ford stock.
Judging by all the latinos driving gmc and suburbans I'd say they are doing just fine with you all. What has your racial group so butthurt that everything pisses you off? what next, will you complain that milk is not brown enough. You all claim that people are racist towards you but I've seen the most racism from your group than all others combined. Pull your diapers up, nobody owes you anything and get stuff done.