IKEA Dresses Filipinos As Swedish Maids In Kuwaiti Ad

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flipino_ikea.jpg

Kuwaiti Art Director and Ad Blogger Tata Botata (or whatever his real name is) pointed us to this Kuwaiti IKEA ad on the back of a local dining guide that shows Filipinos, apparently the predominant wait staff in the country, portrayed Swedish maids. While Botata tells us its very common to see Filipino wait staff in Kuwait, he took issue with IKEA dressing them up in stereotypical Swedish garb and headlining the ad with, “Enjoy the Swedish hospitality at IKEA store.”

We don’t pretend to understand all the cultural ramifications of this but we prefer our Swedish maids blond, buxom and holding beer St. Pauli Girl-style. Then again, that’s got its own nasty, sexist, stereotypical baggage.

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Steve Hall

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