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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
 Posted - 12/09/2011 : 10:33:38 AM
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This is an ad that Steven Espaniola discovered in the public transit system in the San Francisco Bay area (BART). Needless to say, many people are upset about a rather insensitive advertisement meant to entice people to use Travelocity's services in booking travel to Hawai'i. Buddy, I tell you, I'd do anything now rather than use Travelocity after seeing this.
Here is something that Steven posted on his blog today. It is very well written. Also, don't forget that if you feel this ad needs to be taken down, you, too, can use the link to Travelocity's feedback form to tell them what you think. Please take a moment to do so. I am steaming mad and upset about it.
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Travelocity Ad = FAIL
“Hula is the language of the heart, therefore the heartbeat of the Hawaiian people.” - King David Kalākaua
Over the years there have been many commercial ads that laugh at, poke fun of or mention my Hawaiian culture in a lighthearted matter. Normally, I shrug them off as ignorance and move on, however I recently stumbled upon the poster ad (above) by Travelocity while traveling on BART (San Francisco’s mass transit system) that stopped me in my tracks, jaw dropped.
While the intent of the message is to get people to visit Hawai’i and hopefully use Travelocity to book that voyage, it’s impact and choice of words they use implies that hula is an embarrassing act and should not be seen by anyone whose opinion is valued. The campaign perpetuates a novelty stereotype of mock hula done by drunken frat boys or tourists emulating movements at a lu’au that they think are hula movements and relegates it to the ranks of karaoke or charades. Hula should be honored, celebrated, nurtured, preserved and most of all respected!
There was a point in history (decades actually) when hula was banned by the occupying Missionaries and it was not until the accomplishments of our last great King David Kalākaua, that hula was revived and restored to it’s rightful status.
The irony in all of this is that we’ve come full circle with ads like this one doing the same sort of damage, perpetuating the same type message that the early Missionaries preached which was that hula was a bad and shameful thing. It most certainly is NOT!
We need to put an immediate stop to these types of ads the moment we notice them so that we can educate the masses about the importance of hula and our culture. If you are reading this and share my thoughts, please take a moment to send Travelocity your feedback by clicking on the link below:
Travelocity Feedback: http://bit.ly/v8QNQP
BART Complaint Line: 510-464-7134
Mahalo for listening!
Steven Espaniola
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Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 12/09/2011 : 10:49:51 AM
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| I do it with some of my best friends. |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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TerryLiberty
Lokahi
USA
207 Posts |
Posted - 12/09/2011 : 11:25:26 AM
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Wanda:
Thanks for the link to their feedback page. Comments sent.
Terry
Olympia, WA |
Terry
Olympia, WA
Forever a haumana |
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cmdrpiffle
`Olu`olu
USA
553 Posts |
Posted - 12/09/2011 : 11:27:23 AM
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Steaming mad and upset? Why?
Change the channel so to speak. Don't patronize Travelocity.
With respect to Steven, I've read his piece, don't agree with him, and won't be contacting Travelocity.
I personally thought the ad was funny.
To each his own I suppose.
Cheers! |
my Poodle is smarter than your honor student |
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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
Posted - 12/09/2011 : 12:08:42 PM
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| I saw Steven's link on FB. I dropped a line at the feedback site. I don't dance but the ad, to me, appears culturally insensitive and/or naive. |
Andy |
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chunky monkey
Ha`aha`a
USA
1022 Posts |
Posted - 12/09/2011 : 4:19:06 PM
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| You know you've made it big time when you begin to tick everyone off. You can't fool everyone, but people will pay you try. |
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Fran Guidry
Ha`aha`a
USA
1579 Posts |
Posted - 12/10/2011 : 06:14:22 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by cmdrpiffle
Steaming mad and upset? Why?
Change the channel so to speak. Don't patronize Travelocity.
With respect to Steven, I've read his piece, don't agree with him, and won't be contacting Travelocity.
I personally thought the ad was funny.
To each his own I suppose.
Cheers!
I take it your Mom doesn't dance hula. Or your wife. Your daughters. I suppose you haven't had the experience of working for six months to learn the poetry and the choreography, make the costumes, design and execute the stage decorations.
I guess hula just isn't that big a deal to you.
To each his own, I suppose.
Fran |
E ho`okani pila kakou ma Kaleponi
Slack Key Guitar in California - www.kaleponi.com
Slack Key on YouTube
Homebrewed Music Blog |
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cmdrpiffle
`Olu`olu
USA
553 Posts |
Posted - 12/10/2011 : 07:20:23 AM
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| Lighten up Fran(cis) |
my Poodle is smarter than your honor student |
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ypochris
Lokahi
USA
398 Posts |
Posted - 12/10/2011 : 08:58:45 AM
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Hula to practitioners is a religious expression, as well as a deep expression of culture.
Ask an evangelical Christian or a fundamentalist Muslim to lighten up about someone ridiculing Jesus or Mohammed, ask a Jew to lighten up about the Holocaust, ask a Native American to lighten up about the genocide. That would be the equivalent of asking a practitioner to lighten up about ridiculing hula. Practicing hula represents attempting to recover everything that was lost when foreign culture overran Hawai'i.
But then, considering how your signature line insults our children, I wouldn't expect you to understand cultural sensitivity. You clearly don't even realize it when you are offending those who share your own culture, thinking you are being funny when in fact you are being rude. Just like those who wrote the Travelocity ad that you find amusing. |
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cmdrpiffle
`Olu`olu
USA
553 Posts |
Posted - 12/10/2011 : 11:39:02 AM
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| Just wow... |
my Poodle is smarter than your honor student |
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mike2jb
Lokahi
USA
213 Posts |
Posted - 12/10/2011 : 12:10:57 PM
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Hmm... I always found it hard to 'ami with a chip on my shoulder.
It seems to me that hula is currently doing very well indeed and does not really need patronizing rescuers or protection from garden gnomes and missionaries. There are halau from Kyoto to Guadalajara to Cleveland. Those mean ol' missionaries are long dead and many of their descendants--the product of intermarriage with the folks they "oppressed"-- are hula haumana now.
I ride the same public transit system that Steven Espaniola rides and besides the wisecracking garden gnome, I can also recall seeing the smiling faces (and lei and kupe'e) of hula haumana plastered five feet wide all over the sides of our local city busses for about six months this year, promoting hula in general and a local halau in particular.
This reminds me of the dust-up five years ago when a cruise line depicted King Kamehameha offering a champagne toast in an ad. Planny folks got their knickers in a twist and offered planny speeches about respect. Meanwhile at about the same time, King K's contemporary Goerge Washington was busy--wooden-teeth jokes and all--in ads hawking the new dollar coin. None of the hand-wringers said squat about respecting ol' George.
I didn't find the Travelocity ad particularly funny--nor are most of its other gnome ads funny, IMHO--but it is part of a long tradition of silly travel ads and commentary that make light of all sorts of cultural institutions, ranging from haggis and what is or isn't under kilts to images of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi portrayed as a busy travel agent, with a telephone in each of her four hands.
Sure it's possible to be ham-handed with humor, as this ad was, and sure it's anyone's right to avoid a company that does so. But I have to ask if it is truly "respectful" to treat a vibrant cultural practice like hula as if it were such a fragile and decrepit relic that it must be "protected" and cannot withstand being treated with the same admiration, criticism and humor as any other culture is treated. |
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2168 Posts |
Posted - 12/10/2011 : 12:25:02 PM
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Many times we humans have based our "humor" on ignorance. Here it is, yet again. I get this alla time with accordion and lederhosen "jokes" and comments. There's nothing wrong with being ignorant, we all start there. The problem is when folks seek to perpetuate, yea, institutionalize their ignorance. "We have met the enemy and he is us." -Walt Kelly in "Pogo".
BTW, what kine menehune dat? |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
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Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 12/12/2011 : 10:36:47 AM
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Posted by Travelocity on Twitter ---
Thanks to all who have chimed in re: @ StevenEspaniola’s post. @ roaminggnome loves Hawaii and we didn’t mean to show any disrespect to hula.
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noeau
Ha`aha`a
USA
1105 Posts |
Posted - 12/12/2011 : 12:02:46 PM
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Just a slight correction. King Kamehameha III started to rejuvenate the hula and King Kalākaua continued to do so.Of course those efforts were made in an effort to combat colonialism that was undermining Hawaiian culture at the time. christian missionaries were the advance guard whose soul aim was to amerikanize Hawaiʻi in preparation for the overthrow.
Everyone is free to have an opinion. Some of us might not like the way the ad was written and some donʻt care. Either way it was just a way of commercializing the culture again. I wonʻt argue about this but the opinions stated here for the most part are meaningless and will not have any effect on those entities who make money from any culture other than the their own. As long as profit is involved anything is fair game. I would just ask that those who donʻt agree with Steve to at least respect his opinon or shut the - - - - Up. |
No'eau, eia au he mea pa'ani wale nō. |
Edited by - noeau on 12/12/2011 12:03:43 PM |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 12/12/2011 : 12:09:47 PM
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Posted by Steven on Face Book:
Just heard back from Travelocity on Twitter and they are planning to remove the ads and are currently in talks to figure out exact dates...mahalo to everyone for the overwhelming show of support! |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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Topic |
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Travelocity Ad Mocks Hula
