Tian questions Oreo’s choice of American Idol’s Randy Jackson as host of the company’s Oreo & Milk Jingle Contest. He appears in ads and on packaging promoting the contest. Tian points out the term “oreo” is slang for “African Americans that the black community is generally offended with for betraying their roots usually for dating caucasion girls, dressing too white, talking too white, etc.” as defined in the Urban Dictionary.
Of course there’s nothing wrong with Randy Jackson hosting the contest but, and we may be reading too much into this, to see fellow African Americans appear to be calling Jackson an “oreo” in the ad is either a perpetuation of the stereotype or a brilliant twist on the stereotype that gleefully casts aside political correctness and goes for daring humor. It’s sort of an acknowledgment of labels while, at the same time, deflating their relevance. It’s not like “oreos” are the only ones that have been singled out for their “cross over” behavior. After all, we’ve got the term “wigger” to describe the other side of the equation. Unfortunately wigger doesn’t rhyme with Oreo so it’s unlikely we’ll see a version of the spot riffing off that bit of slang.
