Ancient Chinese Secret, Huh?

Seize her!!!

Mr Lee was hot!

Wife was dumpy but she probably had to put up with a nightmare of a mother in law.

They spoke typically American, unlike most Asian actors on TV at that time.

Yet they still perpetuated the stereotype with the Chinese Laundry.

But there were gazillions of Chinese laundries. Why was it racist to acknowledge their obvious existence?

We only used the French laundry W/Jean Val Jean Ramon

Gazillions? Why not look it up and find out how many of them were actually Chinese-owned in the 70s, instead of acting like a dumb woman.

Because I don;t really care,. R7.

I still quote this commercial. Very effective. it might seem 'racist' but I don't personally think it is. The only really questionable thing is the wife revealing their secret, which might affect their business. Dumb move.

This commercial was played years after it was already in heavy rotation.

I assume it played during Archie bunker and the Rockford files...

Never bothered me at the time. It played FOREVER!

I can still recite the whole thing by heart!

R2 is my husband - some hotshot!

There are very few commercials that people can quote verbatim, especially ones with various character dialogue.

That's nothing to be proud of, Rusty...

i bet when that bitch ruined her husband's business in the early 70s, she never thought her reputation would still be around 50 years later.

Calgon, take me away!

I watched it, but I never bought a box of that damned Calgon!

Caucasian lady customer (American actress Pamela Wiley)

"Mr. Lee" (played by Chinese-American actor Calvin Jung) [February 17, 1945]

"Mrs Lee" (Japanese-American actress Anne Miyamoto) [24 Oct 1940 -1 Sep 2013 (aged 72)]

Not nearly as offensive as these.

How do you fuck like a goddamn jackhammer, Mr. Lee?

Neither. You have failed to establish the context of the time, which is key.

At the time the ads aired, Chinese laundries were considered the best. If you had access to one, it’s where you went. When these ads came out, it played into the desire to get the results that city people got by going to the chinese laundries.

Out in the suburbs and the sticks, where water has far more iron in it - water softeners like Calgon - reduced the mineral levels in water, helped the powder detergent work more efficiently and get better results.

It was simultaneously appealing to “what’s available only in the big cities”, “what’s available to rich people” and “how do those chinese laundries in the movies do it”

Not everything is racism, dear OP.

Aunt Jemima & Company getting cancelled reminded me of this commercial. When did they stop airing it? I was born in 1980 and never recall seeing it, but a coworker who's about 5 years older than me remembered it and showed it to me once. (Just a lot of the "Calgon, take me away!" bath oil/bubble bath commercials are what I recall in the 80s.)

Re-linking, because the original video above doesn't work anymore. The first comment on this link is from the daughter of the lady who played the wife. She tells a bit about her mum's career...pretty neat.

My husband, some hotshot!

The whole point is to take down the "inscrutable oriental" stereotype and show that Asians are just like any other Americans (who use Calgon of course!). It's a brilliant piece of anti-racism and brand-promotion at the same time. Unfortunate that the current generation is too obtuse to get it.

[quote]This was probably the most played commercial in the 70s.

Hardly.

Evidently, OP, many found it to be offensive as your link shows no video - only a notice stating "! Video unavailable"

Absolutely, R25. You get it.

We likey!

This commercial for 'Jello Tonight' is worse than the Calgon 'Ancient Chinese Secret' one.

"Poor Chinese baby!"

Since the secret was Corona virus and basically the beginning of the Apocalypse, I'd say the ad is a bit disingenuous.