
Dunkin' Donuts TV ads featuring goonishly smiley Food Network personality Rachel Ray have been pulled after a right wing commenter claimed Ray's scarf looks like Palestinian garment. Seriously?
Noted Fox News wingnut Michelle Malkin proclaimed that the black and white scarf resembled the checkered kiffiyah traditionally worn by Palestinians. And therefore must somehow be associated with terrorism. And Dunkin' Donuts, as you know, is into supporting Islamic terrorism. Not just, you know, making Boston Cremes.
The scarf, as you can see, is a tasseled number probably purchased at Saks. Dunkin' Donuts: I love your chocolate glazed, but you should be ashamed of yourself for capitulating to such nonsense.










Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
5-31-2008 @ 10:01AM
lizandrsn said...
I so agree. Dunkin' Donuts should also fire their PR Company for thinking that goofy photo of Rachel Ray was going to sell just one beverage. C'mon - it looks like someone who wishes they look like Rachel Ray, not the real deal. Maybe it's a wax model.
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5-31-2008 @ 10:20AM
Mike said...
Did you actually read/listen to Malkins comments or are you just parroting what you've heard. Hey it's your blog and your entitled to your opinion, but using terms like "right wing commentator" and "wingnut" make you sound like left-wing Kool-aid drinking, Birkenstock and hemp shirt wearing liberal bed wetter.
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5-31-2008 @ 10:31AM
Heather said...
This is pretty absurd. That's all I'll say.
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5-31-2008 @ 12:00PM
marquisem said...
I'm absolutely not a fan of Rachael Ray, but I thought this was absurd. It's a flipping scarf. It's not like she wore it on her head just like Arafat. I had no idea black and white houndstooth was so utterly offensive. I guess Malkin should go screaming at Chanel next.
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5-31-2008 @ 12:07PM
Tug Spicer said...
Old news. Happend days ago.
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5-31-2008 @ 12:12PM
Big John said...
Remember kids, all Palestinians are terrorists! It's truly remarkable what people are so offended by in the US recently.
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5-31-2008 @ 12:14PM
Big John said...
@Tug Spicer: It's Saturday morning and I certainly didn't hear about this. Calm down.
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5-31-2008 @ 12:16PM
Donna said...
Ah yes. The great Rachel Ray Controversy. Why Dunkin Donuts ever listened to a nutjob like Malkin is beyond me.
I'm with you. There's a whole lot of reasons to dislike Rachel Ray, but her choice of accessories doesn't enter into it.
This is one of the dumbest manufactured controversies I've ever seen.
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5-31-2008 @ 1:55PM
ML said...
This is hilarious. . .especially considering that Rachel is standing in front of a Mormon temple(!).
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5-31-2008 @ 3:00PM
Malren said...
I wonder how many of the people who think this is "no big deal" also champion the wearing of Che Guevara shirts.
Terrorist chic is pathetic, and whoever picked that scarf should get slapped in the eye. Maybe it is and maybe it isn't a keffiyeh. I don't know. It looks like one, and it adds nothing to the image but visual clutter. Plus, *if* it is a keffiyeh, it's frigging disgusting.
I really hate far-lefty pieces of ____ that champion this terrorist chic crap. It's despicable.
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5-31-2008 @ 3:05PM
Malren said...
@Big John: You're telling someone else to calm down after your "Remember kids, all Palestinians are terrorists!" nonsense?
Hilarious. And hypocritical as well. No one said all Palestinian kids were terrorists. Not even the overly-shrill Malkin. If anyone escalated this discussion and needs to be told to calm down, it would be *you*.
*IF* (read carefully - IF) this is a keffiyeh, it is an example of terrorist chic, and it *should* be condemned by anyone with half a brain.
The simple, easy way out of this would be to talk to the photographer and find out where the scarf came from and just tell people what it is. If it's a keffiyeh, apologize and move on. If it's just a scarf that only happens to resemble a keffiyeh because of the folds and web compression, then say so and demand Malkin's apology.
Controversy solved.
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5-31-2008 @ 3:08PM
Gobo said...
Malren: you're entirely wrong.
This is a tasseled scarf like my grandmother would buy from Target. It's true that in the middle east, similar scarves are used by everyone -- including US troops -- as protection from sand and heat. That doesn't make wearing one "terrorist chic". That's a bigoted generalization akin to saying "all middle-eastern men with beards are suspicious looking".
Malkin read too much into a simple piece of clothing, and so are you. Before you start threatening violence and throwing insults around, you should calm down.
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5-31-2008 @ 3:24PM
Malren said...
@gobo: Jesus, are you for real? I'm a bigot and advocating real violence?
Wow.
IF...I SAID IF, IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...If this was a keffiyeh patterned after a SPECIFIC pattern worn SPECIFICALLY by TERRORISTS and adopted by many on the left as terrorist chic garb just like Che t-shirts...THEN it is disgusting.
Do you even know what an if/then statement is?
I also further clarified that if it is NOT a keffiyeh - and the way to be sure is to find out who took the picture and ask - then Malkin owes Rachel and Dunkin' an apology. Are you going to get all up in my face over that statement as well?
Nice to see that you have no tolerance for someone concerned with the glorification of *actual* terrorists who do *real* violence though. It's so helpful that you direct your animosity toward me instead of the kind of idiots that glorify terrorists by wearing their symbols in a show of solidarity.
For the record; I AM NOT CLAIMING RACHEL RAY DID THIS. I am not siding with Malkin, who I find to be a shrill paranoid attention-seeker. I am not even proclaiming that this has to be a keffiyeh in the specific Hamas terrorist pattern. I am saying that it's OK to be concerned and ask. I am also saying that the art director or photographer who picked it is an idiot for two reasons.
Reason 1. It really *does* look like it could be a Hamas keffiyeh once compressed to web form.
Reason 2. It is a distracting, photographically terrible element in an otherwise nicely-composed image.
Lastly, I think it's odd that you tell me to calm down over my "slapped in the eye" hyperbole but you have no problem jumping to calling me a bigot when you know nothing about how I think and you are intentionally mis-stating my position.
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5-31-2008 @ 4:02PM
Gobo said...
Malren, note that I didn't call you a bigot. I said that calling all loose scarves of this style "terrorist chic" is a bigoted statement. As I said, since this sort of scarf is a very generic piece of cloth worn by Americans of all ages (as well as Middle Easterners), it's a little ridiculous putting it in the same category as politically-charged tee shirts.
That said, it was also a terrible choice by the stylist, because it's busy and distracting. I totally agree -- not sure why they even put it on her. Very sloppy on the part of Dunkin' Donuts.
You're getting a bit defensive and eager to take offense; I'm not the one who made blanket generalizations about "far-lefty pieces of crap" (like myself, apparently) who don't think wearing a rather ugly scarf on TV has to be politically charged.
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5-31-2008 @ 4:21PM
Monika said...
Oh, those pesky, terrorist paisley prints.
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5-31-2008 @ 5:09PM
geeky said...
Hell, I didnt even know what a keffiyeh was before this. I'm sure most people reading this are in the same boat.
I think this is just creating issues that wouldnt normally exist.
Besides, *what if* nobody thought about it and the scarf happened to be a fashion hit. Would that turn us all into terrorists?
...maybe fashion terrorists, but I'm guessing not of the nationalistic, murderous type.
I think we have other things to worry about than a silly scarf. Like, what website I'm going to visit next after this. Hot-or-not or ebay.
OH, THE HUMANITY!
:D
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5-31-2008 @ 6:58PM
LM said...
I think this whole thing is amazingly silly. And the building in the background is not a Mormon temple but happens to be the state capitol in Salem, Oregon. Don't believe me. Look it up on line.
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5-31-2008 @ 8:27PM
Jonathan said...
@Mike: because of your comment, I went to find what Malkin actually wrote. Malkin's comments were ridiculous and reflect how little she knows about the middle east - it would be like accusing any bald man of being a member of the blue man group.
(found at http://michellemalkin.com/2008/05/23/of-donuts-and-dumb-celebrities/)
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6-01-2008 @ 1:31AM
Dr. Electro said...
This is so insanely ridiculous that it doesn't really merit a comment. However, I am not leaving without taking Mike to task for his remarks. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, even a Duby-loving wingnut like you. Nobody in this column is more entitled to express an unchallenged opinion than Emily. So, go back to your McCain rally and don't wear anything blue and for God's own sake, take off those Birkenstocks! :D
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6-01-2008 @ 8:22AM
Red Icculus said...
I hate Rachael Ray as much as the next person, but right-wing media creating sensationalism is just silly. Dunkin Donuts should receive part of the blame of the stupidity of the situation for pandering to it and pulling the ad.
http://red-icculus.com
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