[JonnTEN]

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/b...30/172405.aspx
Daniel Goldbloom on Michelle Malkin et al.'s war on Rachael Ray the Paisley Terrorist
Posted: May 29, 2008, 2:27 PM by Dan Goldbloom
Daniel Goldbloom



Fashion illiteracy, moral outrage and Dunkin' Donuts make for a bad combination, especially for celebri-chef Rachael Ray. Last weekend, Dunkin' Donuts pulled an online ad that featured the food-icon sporting a black and white silk scarf. In the eyes of ultra-conservative blogger Michelle Malkin and others, however, the scarf was no innocent paisley-patterned kerchief (which it clearly was), but a keffiyeh — national symbol of the Palestinian people cum trendy fashion accessory.

That's right, America's favourite donut chain was subverting the war on terror! And seditious advertising was only the tip of the terror-berg! Could it be that the money Dunkin' Donuts usurped from hard-working Americans was funnelled to terrorists who seek to destroy everything we hold sacred and deep-fried?

Thankfully, Dunkin' Donuts was not about to let the terrorists win. They removed the secretly political ad almost immediately. In a statement, Margie Myers, senior VP-communications for the donut firm said that "the possibility of misperception detracted from its original intention to promote our iced coffee." Yet another victory for the squinty-eyed anti-terror militia.

That Ms. Malkin and other conservative bloggers flipped out is not surprising — it's pretty much the only thing some of these commentators do. But Malkin et al. pulled the fashion equivalent of confusing the American flag with the Cuban one. True, they both have red and white stripes with at least one blue-ensconced white star, but no one is accusing hyper-patriotic Americans of supporting the Castro regime.

It is continually amazing to watch these pundits foam at the mouth at the mention of anything vaguely Palestinian. The notion that mere association with a national group is cause for condemnation at the very least borders on racism. I shudder to think what will happen when commentators find out that Bethlehem — the birthplace of Jesus himself — is actually in Palestine.

The "Keffiyeh kerfuffle" is yet another example of the jingoism pervading certain sectors of today's America. Confronted with paisley, some see Palestinians; faced with Obama, some see Osama. That Dunkin' Donuts pulled the ad is indicative of the power of such members of society. The donut chain isn't in the business of making political statements, but the reality that imagined political implications would affect their business is a sad measure of the world's most powerful democracy.

On a side note, why is Rachael Ray even in Dunkin' Donuts ads in the first place? The fact that someone known as a chef would agree to promote Dunkin' Donuts is the real crime here. Then again, if Ms. Ray were promoting Tim Hortons, I'd probably be all for it.

dgoldbloom@nationalpost.com

[Photo: Rachael Ray appears in the offending Dunkin' Donuts online ad.]

[RgtrsKfR]

Good heavens, is this what we've been reduced to?

[LymnInvinny]

Everybody is wearing them in all colors (the ubiquity is truly sickening) so much so that mine, which I have occasionally worn since college as a statement, is retired in my underwear drawer. It's a harmless trend but I just hate it when people are such followers.
I'm sure 80% of the people walking around Manhattan with these perched around their necks haven't a clue about the origin of this particular textile design anyway.

This keffiya style scarf trend is an outgrowth of the larger trend of wearing any big scarf wrapped around the neck that I first noticed on Italians a few summers back(and I thought it looked terribly silly and self-consciously contrived at that time too). At one point in Mykonos, noticing that every single Italian tourist was wearing a neck scarf, I wondered aloud to my fellow traveler, "Is it just a national obsession like ham in Spain? I mean, it's 95 degrees out here!"

Now the wearing of a neck scarf in hot weather has become ubiquitous here also. Isn't it goofy how these things spread? I recently saw a photo of Justin Timberlake wearing a scarf around his neck this way and thought I'd puke.

Incidentally, the scarf Rachel Ray wears in the ad is a paisley scarf in black and white, not even keffiya style.

[PekHyvac]

So.... when are knit caps going to be the August fasion statement?



PS, looks like Dunkin' lost its Munchkins.