Utah couple tries to market an Obama 'Sock Monkey"... are "shocked" by the angry response

[npincus]

http://www.abc4.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=48791911-3673-46e2-9749-70831f930937

(ABC 4 News) SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - A toy being sold over the internet by a Utah couple is causing an uproar from supporters of democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. It’s a sock monkey wearing a suit with a lapel pin for Obama.

Supporters of Obama have been filling online forums and blogs with angry words over what they see as the degrading depiction of a black man as a monkey.

Such portrayals are a throw back to the days of “Jim Crow” laws in southern states. The depictions were designed to make one man appear inferior, less than human, for no other reason than the color of his skin. From different blogs, one writer puts it simply: “The 'Sock Obama' is disgusting.” Others say its makers are racists.

With such a reaction, it is ironic that the toy was being marketed to Obama supporters. The sales pitch on the website reads:

“We don’t get enough of him at his public speaking events. Now you can have your very own TheSockObama™ 24/7! Fall in love with your chosen candidate all over again.”

The Sock Obama is the creation of David and Elizabeth Lawson of West Jordan. They say they are shocked by the anger. In responding to a handful of the emails that are filling their inbox, they wrote:

“We at TheSockObama Co. are saddened that some individuals have chosen to misinterpret our plush toy. It is not, nor has it ever been, our objective to hurt, dismay or anger anyone. We guess there is an element of naiveté on our part, in that we don't think in terms of myths, fables, fairy tales and folklore. In earnest folks, we're so sorry we offended anybody.”

So far, few web commentators are buying their plea of “naiveté,” especially since the Lawsons have said nothing about stopping the sale of their Sock Obama.



Update: The SockObama web site has issued an apology and says they will not proceed with the manufacture of this "toy" at: http://thesockobama.com/

[Maddy McCall]

1. AHHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Idiots!

:rofl:

How stupid do you have to be to not see that it's offensive as hell?

[blondeatlast]

2. "Never misunderestimate the ability of dimwits to not see racism when they make it."

It's a dumb saying and I just made that up but it seems appropriate to the entire RNC modus operandi. You can use it if you want. :rofl:

[1Hippiechick]

48. THAT is NOT a sock monkey! We made sock monkeys in my childhood- this company is as racist as they

come, and they are counting on racists BUYING this damn thing! Below is what the original sock monkey looked like -

http://www.classicmonkey.com/Pages/page6.html

[Catherina]

3. Naiveté? Is that what they're calling it these days?

David and Elizabeth Lawson of West Jordan?

I wonder what else they've been marketing.

[Tim4319]

4. This is the exact reason race relations need to be put out on the table!

In parts of this country, things like this is the norm! To some people, this may seem small! However, something like has a way of snowballing when something happens like the police officers that were acquitted in the Rodney King beating.

People of all ethnic groups need to be educated on how to deal with other ethnicities.

[blondeatlast]

6. This campaign is going to expose a lot of infection that's festered for centuries.

There truly are a lot of people who can't understand why this doll is offensive.

[SeaLyons]

5. OMG....

that's so unbelievably offensive.

[iamahaingttta]

7. And yet, we call Bush "The Chimp" at every opportunity.

I can see how they would be confused.

[NatBurner]

10. come on now

[blondeatlast]

12. There's an honest resemblance in that case. In this one, well, I don't see it.

Nice try, but

[iamahaingttta]

21. Well, yeah...

It's just that when "we" mock someone, we're right.
When "they" mock someone, "we" get outraged.
And that goes both ways.

It's ALL just so fucking stupid!

[Terran]

26. Our mocking is not racist

And anyway, you feel Obama deserves to be mocked the same way Bush does? Interesting viewpoint.

[iamahaingttta]

31. No, I don't.

I think, just maybe? it's best for nobody to be mocked?

I just got done on a thread where it was about McCain and it was "Gramps" this and "Grampa" that. Is racism really that much worse that ageism? Is it OK when "we" do it, but outrageous when "they" do it?

Why is "our" hypocrisy OK?

Just sayin'...

[JuniperLea]

37. Bush isn't black... this is a stereotypical bash on blacks...

That should be simple enough to grasp.

I understand your feelings about not wanting anyone to be mocked, but your choice of examples leaves your cause wanting.

[1Hippiechick]

44. Of COURSE it is.....

[treestar]

71. When we do it, it's all in fun

When they do it, it's to be nasty.

Hang around right wingers and you will see it.

They think they will seriously get somewhere with this - cause people not to vote for Obama.

We do it just to be funny or blow off steam, but wouldn't try to sell it, not thinking it would be taken seriously enough.

[blondeatlast]

58. How do you feel about editorial cartoons and politcal satire?

I don't get "outraged." I just think it's the nature of the beast. Delicacy and politics haven't mixed since, well, have they ever?

Not to mention, this is outright racist; MOST political humor doesn't go there by social convention.

[Catherina]

13. That's their excuse. Naivete my ass. They're still trying to manufacture it

06/17/2008

...

But Monday afternoon, the creators, David and Elizabeth Lawson, told the Deseret News that "a few new opportunities have been presented" for the production of the monkey. They also issued a long news release that defended the monkey as a victim of double standards and unfair censorship.

Last week, TheSockObama LLC Web site led to a barrage of bloggers' criticism of the racial undertones of depicting Obama as a monkey. The undertones date to Jim Crow, when blacks were compared to monkeys in efforts to frame them as a lesser race.

"It's OK for there to be hundreds of thousands of Google sites containing references to our current president's resemblance to a chimpanzee," the Lawsons' statement said. "However, it's not OK to make that same association regarding our possible next president."

The Lawsons said in the statement they were forced to shut down after only seven days, and are issuing refunds to those who have ordered the sock monkeys after "blogging dens of resistance quickly began their fury of e-mails," many of which were threatening.

...

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700235335,00.html

Creators of The Sock Obama seek new company to produce doll

By Sheena McFarland
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 06/18/2008 01:40:03 AM MDT

...

A stuffed sock monkey doll dressed as and named after presidential candidate Barack Obama may not be shelved just yet, despite cries of racism from around the country.

David and Elizabeth Lawson, the doll's creators who live in West Jordan, released a lengthy statement, ending with the sentiment "We hope to meet again soon in a new venue."

Apparently that new venue is http://sockpoliticians.com. The Web site has the same doll, description and format as the Lawsons' previous site.

The statement said the mass production of the doll, and the upcoming Sen. John McCain take - JohnnieMcSock - are canceled. However, that comes because Binkley Toys Inc., the Canadian company originally hired to mass produce the doll, pulled out after receiving multiple e-mails pointing out the racist nature of the doll. Binkley owner Rob Bishop - who is not related to Utah Rep. Rob Bishop - called his choice to make a prototype "naive," but apologized and refused to make the doll.

While West Jordan's The Sock Obama is issuing refunds to those who had pre-ordered the doll from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia, the company hopes to find a new manufacturer for their doll.

The Lawsons called the outcry of racism a hypocritical double standard as "thousands of Google sites" contain depictions of President Bush as a chimpanzee.

"In the good ol' fashion spirit of entrepreneurialism, free enterprise has been censored, and TheSockObama politically plush toy has been discriminated against in the marketplace of the United States of America," the statement read.

...

The desire to continue to manufacture the doll is a shift from the Lawsons' original statement that they did not realize that depicting a black man as a monkey would carry any implications of racism.

That the company is considering pushing ahead with the manufacturing of the doll astounds Charles Henderson, a black Kearns Democrat running for a seat in Utah's House of Representatives.

"After you've been told it's not acceptable, why do you pursue this unless it's motivated by financial gain, notoriety or some other more malicious path that you're trying to take?" Henderson said. "I don't see a reason why they would go down that path. It's not acceptable. I hope no one buys it."

Henderson also wonders who the Lawsons are targeting as their audience after hearing from people such as Jeanetta Williams, president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, who calls the doll "pure racism at its extreme."

...

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_9612403?source=rss

[polmaven]

38. My question is this...

What company, that may want to either build a reputation or maintain one, would POSSIBLY even THINK of producing this thing....(I refuse to call it a "doll". Dolls are meant to be cute play toys)???? I wonder if they have had any interest. "David Duke Racists Inc." maybe?

[Catherina]

40. The only explanation I can think of is that they're knowingly marketing to a particular

audience. The Lawsons were Mitt Romney supporters. I wonder if they're old time Mormons who think Blacks are racially inferior but that it's nothing to take offense at because that's just how the Good Lord made us.

It makes no sense otherwise, especially their persistence after people's shock.

These Primaries have sure brought some ugly -isms to light. Sometimes you just want to close your eyes and forget all about the human race.

Thank you for being who you are :hug:

[SidneyCarton]

72. It's not that they're Mormons, they're Utah Mormons.

Believe me, there is a difference.

[npincus]

52. My letter to them:

Subject line: You Guys are Assholes


First, you raised the price of your offensive simian dipiction of America's First Black presidential candidate, then magnify the offense by making a McCain doll a SHEEP? How about making Obama the sheep, and McCain the monkey? Oh no, that wouldn't work, because YOU KNOW the black guy is supposed to be the monkey! Racist creeps, you are. You guys are just digging yourselves in DEEPER.

Shame on you.

(name)

[npincus]

55. They REPLIED:

(name),
To correct you, Barack Obama is not the first black presidential candidate. There have been many that have come before him, he is the first black presidential candidate that actually has a chance of winning the presidency. The McCain doll is also a monkey and not a sheep. They are both monkeys. And SockPoliticians is in no way racist. Thank you for your comments, they will be posted to the website.

[e-mail]
SockPoliticians.com

[vaberella]

68. Huh...have they seen a difference between the two supposed monkeys?!

McCain's doll doesn't even resemble the one of Obama. McCain's looks like a sheep.

Was this site up for Gore and Bush when they were running? When and where did this insidious idea spurn from?

[Terran]

25. white people have never been stereotyped as monkeys

yet black Americans have been subject to that degradation for a mnay a decade. You can't live in America and not know that.

[1Hippiechick]

45. "yet black Americans have been subject to that degradation for a many a decade" Absolutely!

edited - I can't tipe, tyep,tope......whatever

[JuniperLea]

36. Not the same thing and you know it...

Jeez.

[iamahaingttta]

39. And yet...

...there are a thousand threads here calling McCain "Gramps."

"We" are just as hypocritical as "they" are.

[1Hippiechick]

46. "...there are a thousand threads here calling McCain "Gramps." Not the same - sorry you can't see

[provis99]

49. McCain IS a grandpa. So calling him "Gramps" is entirely appropriate

Calling a black man a monkey is inappropriate.

[Catherina]

41. Thank you Juniperx

You and a few others really give me hope right now.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

56. Yes because white people were referred to as monkeys and officially declared "not human" in court.

Totally the same thing.

[JuniperLea]

75. Amen!

I can't understand how people don't get this! No wonder there is so much bigotry and racism left in the world today. Disgusting.

[blondeatlast]

8. To the Jordans: Where were you when W became president--now THERE'S a monkey, but you didn't think

of that, didja? :mad:

[greguganus]

9. Here's a great gift idea for the Democrat who has everything.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190229428968&ssPageName=MERC_VI_RSCKCK_Pr4_PcY_BIN_Stores_IT&refitem=190230337937&itemcount=4&refwidgetloc=active_view_item&usedrule1=StoreCatToStoreCat&usedrule2=CrossSell_LogicX&refwidgettype=cross_promot_widget&_trksid=p284.m184&_trkparms=algo%3DCRX%26its%3DS%252BI%252BSS%26itu%3DISS%252BUCI%252BSI%26otn%3D4

[1Hippiechick]

47. gives new meaning to A$$ Wipe.....

[tulsakatz]

11. Keith reported on this a couple of days ago.......

...he noted that the website said they apologized and would stop making it. But Keith also added, since they made that apology, they have decided to continue making them anyway!!

[npincus]

15. Hmmm... all the links on the site are dead (reference apology page)

[Ian David]

14. And now, the McCain Slavemaster Doll with bull-whip action! n/t

[Zynx]

16. *Jaw Drops*

Good...God.

[Raine]

17. "Shocked"?!?

:wow: :wtf: where have they been living, under a rock to not KNOW the history of that kind of shit!! :mad:

[KittyWampus]

18. I'd have had no problem if they'd made both a McCain AND Obama sock monkey doll from the get-go.

Carol Duvall had a crafter on who just does really fun variations on sock-dolls.

[npincus]

19. I think the simian imagery is a problem no matter...

friggin' bloody awful and stupid.

[supernova]

20. Except for that fact that historically

black men have been portrayed as monkeys (typically apes) for forever in the West.

It's just not a good road to go down anymore. I find it dubious that these people didn't know better.

[Erin Elizabeth]

29. Go look at the new site and compare the two dolls.

The Obama one is still incredibly offensive.

AND they raised the price ten bucks since the original site.

[greguganus]

33. Notice how they show the tail of the Obama doll and not the McCain doll. n/t

[greguganus]

34. The site says a Hillary doll and Bush doll are coming soon. Bush will look normal. n/t

[Radical Activist]

22. I believe them.

They're probably from a part of Utah where they have rarely seen few if any black people. I've met people from rural Utah who have only seen black people on TV. They probably aren't overtly racist but are completely ignorant of common racial stereotypes and the history of racism in America.

They probably make similar sock puppets of other people before. It wouldn't surprise me if it really never occurred to them how racist it is.

[Catherina]

70. Go to Utah. There's a lot of "we're sorry God made you inferior"

sentiment up there.

The other thing is that now that they know it's racist, they're still intent on marketing it. I think that's a big clue. They're Mitt Romney donors which isn't a good sign.

[Radical Activist]

74. After reading their comments in later articles

I'm more skeptical too.

[newmajority]

23. Why am I not surprised?

These are people who were raised to believe that Black people were the embodiment of angels who were "too lazy to fight Satan". Of course they don't think there's anything wrong with depicting Obama as a monkey. :eyes:

[symbolman]

24. You know, if it had just been a "black" sock puppet minus the fucking TAIL

and the just stitched a face that even remotely resembled him I might have bought one myself.. But as has been said this is Racism in the Extreme, and of course NOW they show their True Colors, all right wing speech now, they got outed as the Racist Repugs they really are..

We still need to Hammer what they produce next..

Maybe we can convince them to make a McCain POW doll, with a pull string that villified the US as The Great Satan when you pull it.. Or the War Hero doll that comes with FIVE Planes he can crash until he Finally gets caught, along with a Naval Academy grad certificate that shows him graduating 843'rd out of a class of 845 ...

Assholes.

[moriah]

53. Agreed, I said this to my friend when we talked about the old website.

I said "If they had made the toy without the goddamn tail, with the face entirely brown, and without the huge lips, Democrats would likely have bought the toy in droves."

It's disgusting.

[Raine]

67. Yeah it's the tail that

is the really troublesome part about it, there is NO way in hell to deny that its anything but racist. x(

[Sundoggy]

27. Staggeringly obtuse n/t

[Beacool]

28. If they didn't mean it in a racist way,

why not a cute sock monkey with blond hair, pearl necklace and a pant suit or a McWalnuts sock monkey with white hair?

I love monkeys and have several sock monkeys, but this one crossed the line.

[Catherina]

43. They know they're racists

but as long as it's not nooses, we'll overcome together again. I'll meet you at the finish line Beacool. Glad to have you around. :hi:

[Beacool]

59. Hi Catherina!!!

Nice seeing you too.

:hi:

I just came back from a company party and I'm waaaay too happy.

:beer:

[Catherina]

62. Better happy than miserable lol

I'm not very happy today. Obama just did two things that have seriously upset me (yeah, hahaha, don't bet on it, he did a few other things I'm really happy about too) and I was writing a rather direct letter to him when I saw your post.

A company party? How fun if you like the people you work with :rofl:

Stay happy as long as you can. It's horrible that we have so few happy moments these days :hi: Can I come to the next one?

[Beacool]

64. So far, This has not been a particularly good year .

My company just acquired a new CEO over the weekend (I had to find out Sunday through the ticker on Bloomberg), we have lost billions of dollars for the last 2 quarters. The company's assets are a trillion dollars so we're in good shape, but no company likes to see losses of 7 - 8 billion dollars per quarter.

Add to that the campaign and the fact that the person who I honestly think was the better candidate was thrown under the bus by the party leaders and I'm not a happy camper at the moment.

On the other hand, I do give thanks to the Lord for having my family & friends, a job and a roof over my head, which is more than other people have in their lives.

So, all things considered, I shouldn't complain.

The party was hosted by a law firm from DC, we are their largest clients and they throw a party for us every summer. This Hyatt is on a pier on the Hudson river in Jersey City. The view of the Manhattan skyline is breathtaking and tonight the full moon shining on the river was awesome. Next time you should come too.

:toast:

[Catherina]

69. Ouch but good for you for the good thoughts

Things haven't been too great on my side either but I keep trying to focus on the good things like you do. Having a job and a roof these days is nothing to sneeze at so I try to concentrate on that when I get bummed out. I'm glad you had a good night! Manhattan is great. If I'm ever in the area, I'll contact you.

:toast:

[SemiCharmedQuark]

57. Side note, did you see the Hillary Bear?

VTTB did all three candidates properly.

[Beacool]

60. No, I hadn't. Thanks!

She's sooo cute. Are the initials for Vermont Teddy Bears?

[SemiCharmedQuark]

61. Yep!

I love her, she's adorable!

[Beacool]

63. Thanks!

I'll check their site, if they still sell her I may just have to buy her.

:D

[Beacool]

65. I just checked the site and she's sold out!!!!!!!!!!

Wuuuuuuuaaaaaaaaa.............

:cry:

[Marrah_G]

30. It looks WAY more like W. n/t

[McCamy Taylor]

35. That's what I thought, too. All monkeys look like W.

If they changed it to a "W. Sock-it-to-me-monkey" they would probably sell more.

[Catherine Vincent]

32. Did they bother to make one of shrubnuts?

Probably not.

[Catherina]

42. No. They even had the gall to ask what we're complaining about

after calling Bush a chimp for years

The Lawsons called the outcry of racism a hypocritical double standard as "thousands of Google sites" contain depictions of President Bush as a chimpanzee.

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_9612403

Personally I never agreed with calling Bush a chimp. It's so disrespectful to loving animals. Sociopathic little shit seems so much more appropriate.

[graywarrior]

50. I hope they need to take massive doses of Nexium

Stupid racists.

[L0oniX]

51. I suppose they might sell quite well in W. Virginia and Kentucky.

:evilgrin:

[Blondiegrrl]

54. I really wish people would let this sink. The more coverage those assholes get,

the more free advertising they get. We're actually helping their sales.

[candice]

66. Was there any uproar over the Clinton nutcrackers? They were sold at airports?

[greguganus]

73. Still being sold. n/t