Dunkin Donuts Pulls Ad Featuring Rachael Ray In A Scarf That Looks Too Arab

Dunkin Donuts has pulled a commercial featuring pitchwoman Rachael Ray wearing a scarf because Michelle Malkin and other conservative observers thought the scarf looked too much like a keffiyeh, what Malkin describes as "the traditional scarf of Arab men that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad."

The Boston Globe reports that Dunkin Donuts caved to pressure from the conservative blogosphere — and the fear of a mass boycott — and removed the ad:

The company at first pooh-poohed the complaints, claiming the black-and-white wrap was not a keffiyeh. But the right-wing drumbeat on the blogosphere continued and by yesterday, Dunkin' Donuts decided it'd be easier just to yank the ad.

Said the suits in a statement: ''In a recent online ad, Rachael Ray is wearing a black-and-white silk scarf with a paisley design. It was selected by her stylist for the advertising shoot. Absolutely no symbolism was intended. However, given the possibility of misperception, we are no longer using the commercial.''

Malkin praised the decision in her column, writing,

It's refreshing to see an American company show sensitivity to the concerns of Americans opposed to Islamic jihad and its apologists. Too many of them bend over backward in the direction of anti-American political correctness....

Fashion statements may seem insignificant, but when they lead to the mainstreaming of violence -- unintentionally or not -- they matter. Ignorance is no longer an excuse. In post-9/11 America, vigilance must never go out of style.

Malkin has previously lauded Dunkin Donuts for its support of immigration laws.

Below, watch Ray promote Dunkin' Donuts in a 2007 ad.

Comments

[MrSolo]

No' Mo' Dunkin'!

[meneghin]

Looks like Dunkin Donuts is suffering from corporate dementia. Congratulations, join the bandwagon! It's becoming more frequent and normal every day.

[CC1]

This is utter hogwash. It's just a commercial already, and just a scarf. Geez. I personally don't care what Rachael Ray is wearing in a commercial.

[KidSampson]

Plus, I've heard that in some commercials, Rachel Ray wears shoes. Jeffery Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and Hitler all wore shoes.

[betz55]

Contact them and tell the boycott it on. And tell them to get a backbone with that coffee :

Here ya go:

Dunkin' Donuts Consumer Care
130 Royall Street
Canton, MA 02021
Tel: [phone]

[Vergadoce]

Done. I left them a nice message, telling them where to go and how to get there. This makes me sick to my stomach. We need to get back to feeding these Christians to the lions

[marleysghost]

The right wing conspiracy is actually out to try not to offend anybody because they are SO SENSITIVE about hurting people's feelings they bend over backwards making sure we don't offend. Not.

[themikej]

America is F'd if we allow this to fly.

Is every Arab or Muslim an enemy of America? If so, then what the f are we doing in Iraq and Afghanistan rebuilding what we bombed?

Its now politically incorrect to wear a scarf that looks Arabic or Muslim?

What are the people of the middle east thinking when they see something like this?

With people like Michelle Malkin being heard and regarded, America is not America.

[nopartygal]

"heard and regarded" is the least of it. Basically, she is calling the shots. Very scary.

[nodonjuan]

I think they should wiretap her phone and take away her passport until this is all cleared up. What if she bombs a Sunday school full of innocent children? Or puts subliminal messages in her show to convert all Christian to be Muslim. I knew this "America's sweetheart" story was too good to be true.

[nopartygal]

So proud to be in this wonderful country inhabited by such a plethora of brain-dead bobble-heads. You can just bask in the warmth of love, empathy and understanding that emanates from everywhere. It's truly heart warming.

[JKJacksonMD]

I feel so much safer knowing that my donuts have severed their links to jihad. Now we have to go after Krispy Kreme and Tastee Donuts, the others in this axis of evil.

It is so much easier to form knee jerk opinions than to actually think. I thought that people should judge by the content of one's character rather than how they look.

[cosmogenium]

And so what if it WAS a Keffiyah? Who cares? We know who Rachael Ray is, for crying out loud. If she's a terrorist, we're all doomed.

It's Michelle Malkin who is the terrorist: someone who rules by fear and intimidation. She's the one who should be banned or yanked or whatever good taste and rational thought would require. How about we all just ignore her?

[helloworld2008]

I'm boycotting RACIST Dunkin Donuts.

Screw these racists.

We have several million Arab-American citizens. We have 6 million Islamic Americans. This is a slur and a smear against their culture.

[SiberianRat]

Yep! Sickening and ignorant, the whole thing...

[nopartygal]

I'm with you on the boycott bit. And look! Double benefit: we make a strong statement and get healthier at the same time by cutting another crap, diabetes producing snack out of our diets! How cool is that? :) :) :)

[helloworld2008]

This is racism, pure and simple. "Looks Arab" is not a legit reason to pull this, and in fact is an offensive reason.

So much for Bush's claim after 9/11 that our fight was against extremists and not Islam.

Malkin is a hardcore racist/facist, by the way. She applauds the 1940s round up of innocent Japanese-Americans in internment camps. No joke. She's that much of an a--hole racist.

[rowzeer]

Michelle Malkin is a SELF HATING racist...S­he is a wacko in the extreme!! She is the type of person who is so filled with self loathing that she has to spew it out.

She is trying so hard to be white rather than what she is that she really seems kinda sad. Michelle enjoy the color you are. All people are worthy.

Besides who cares what Rachel is wearing...­she could be in a burqa for all I care. It's just coffee!!

[pkafin]

Two comments for all the ignoramuses that are involved in this kerfluffle and the subsequent postings on HuffPo.

1) A black and white Keffiyah is definitely a symbol of Palestinian resistance; particularly the wing of resistance that has used violence against Israel that predates Israel's seizing of Gaza and the West Bank (1967). For the most part, college students in America who wear it do so in solidarity with the seemingly fruitless armed struggle of the Palestinians. No corporation would want to inadvertently use this symbol as part of an ad campaign.

2) In this ad, Rachel Ray is not wearing a Keffiyah.

oh yeah and I have a third comment

3) Michelle Malkin is an idiot and Dunkin Donuts should have had the guts to say so.

In reality (where Michelle Malkin clearly does not live) there would have been nothing wrong with Rachel Ray wearing a generic (politically neutral) Arabic scarf, But, astoundingly, it's not even that. It just happens to be black and white. On can tell quite clearly that it is not a Keffiah from the pictures that have been shown on HuffPo.

Reportedly, It has paisleys on it. IN that case, it's not even "Arabic" at all. Wikipedia states : it's of "Indo-Aryan origin," It has some history in Iranian design, but, the Iranians are not Arabs (I'm sure Malkin thinks they are, but they'd be pissed if you called them that).

This whole thing is about as dumb as can be.

[AmbivalentGuy]

Pretty good points here.
As for Malkin - is there anyone more hypocritical than this woman who is ashamed of her own heritage?

[helloworld2008]

Malkin is Filipino American, so doesn't see the hypocrisy of supporting the very racist and shameful abuses against Japanese Americans in the 1940s.

Even Ronald Reagan officially apologized for it personally. There's a monument to the victims in Washington DC, a crane wrapped in barbed wire.

Malkin is a would-be facist. Thank goodness she's such a laughable clown that no one takes seriously.

[Nann]

That's it I am done with Dunkin Donuts what a bunch of morons to cave to this kind of pressure. Beyond ridiculous! Maybe they will better understand the bottom line better than they understand fashion whimsy.

[cicero7]

Me too. I feel like I am in the twilight zone. Are you F***in kidding me? This is pure fascism. SO embarrassing. This period of history is going be looked back upon with utter shame.

[Hejira45]

OMG! How ridiculous is this? When will people stop watching this craziness and be willing to talk about the difficult things that are bringing this country to thirld world status, like the fact that one in every five American children go to bed hungry every night. Why do we care what "Bubbles" Ray wears in a commercial?????