It seems that the more media channels we have access to, the greater the amount of upsetting or annoying news that can reach us every day, putting our patience or our judgement to the test.
Among the most hotly discussed topics of late was a marketing campaign run in Thailand by Dunkin' Donuts. Considered "controversial" were ads featuring a female model with her face painted black - doing "blackface" as it was called in an earlier, less enlightened time - to promote a new "charcoal" doughnut. "Breaking every rule of deliciousness" was the slogan used. The poster and TV commercials quickly became the target of vociferous criticism online, with many netizens saying they regarded the image as blatantly racist.
As an individual who has long been known by a range of nicknames, several mocking in tone but all sharing a similar meaning - dark or black - I know a thing or two about the offence that can be caused by references to one's skin colour.
In certain places in Asia, including Thailand, having dark skin is taboo. Growing up, as I have, in a country where TV commercials for skin-whitening products are regularly being aired, I can't help thinking that there is constant reinforcement of the idea that people with darker complexions are somehow inferior or less attractive. I speak from experience: as a kid, I had a tough time contending with all the ribbing _ sometimes good-humoured, often not _ about the darkness of my complexion.
It wasn't until I got the chance to travel abroad that I learned how "beautiful" my skin colour was regarded in certain circles. I'm not going to go into details, but it's clear to me that in contemporary Thai society having dark skin is never synonymous with being pretty; quite the opposite in fact.
Back to that doughnut advert. I personally wasn't offended by the image at all. When I first saw it I had mixed feelings, though: what immediately came to my mind was that there were better ways of getting the idea across to consumers than the method chosen by marketing people at Dunkin' Donuts. They should have known better. The use of "blackface" was open to misinterpretation, a point you would expect an American brand to be especially sensitive about, given the history of racial conflict in that country.
"Howls of rage" is what New York-based Human Rights Watch predicted the response would have been if the same images had been released in the US. Eventually, the company pulled the ads and replaced the female presenter with a simple picture of different kinds of doughnuts.
What I find really offensive, however, is something that we are exposed to almost every day: those ads for skin-whitening products with which we are constantly being bombarded. They repeatedly drum the idea into people's heads that dark skin is something that needs to be fixed. Not only do these products claim to be able to solve the "problem", they give the impression that paler skin is somehow healthier, better for you.
It was a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Sports Science who first publicised the results of a study carried out on Thai women between the age of 25 and 40. The test subjects had an average vitamin D level of only 20 nanogrammes per millilitre of blood, whereas the minimum level for good health is considered to be 30 nanogrammes/ml. The study suggested that the reason for the low vitamin D levels was that many Thai women are obsessed with keeping their skin as "white" as possible, they tend to avoid direct sunlight and cover up with sunblock and long-sleeved outfits when outdoors. Exposing one's skin to sunlight on a daily basis stimulates the production of vitamin D which our bodies need to help absorb calcium from our food. The presence of vitamin D in sufficiently high levels also slows the release of parathyroid hormone, a substance which leaches calcium from our bones.
The link between the Dunkin' Donuts campaign and all those ads for skin-whitening products would seem to be ignorance. Advertisements should not be mistaken for hard, cold facts. Take advantage of all the different media channels available nowadays by keeping yourself informed. If the people who dreamed up the tactic of painting that model's face black had researched the topic properly, that idea would never have got off the drawing board.
Yanapon Musiket writes about art and entertainment for Life and has a monthly column, Queer Eye, dedicated to gay rights and gender diversity.