Popchips Unethical

Popchips is a company that specializes in processed potato and corn based snacks. The company markets itself as a healthier alternative to regular potato chips since they are not fried. Compared with other chip companies, Popchips processes potato starch at high pressure and temperature, similarly to puffed rice cakes. Winning numerous awards, the company started gaining recognition and by 2010 it was building a successful brand. In order to bolster its current success Popchips started using celebrity endorsements. The company used many high-profile celebrities, including Katy Perry and Ashton Kutcher; however this backfired. In 2012 Popchips put Ashton Kutcher in a television commercial where he played various personalities looking for a date. One of these personalities was an Indian director named Raj. Kutcher was dressed in stereotypical Indian clothes, painted with brown-face, and “performed” in a singsong accent. The commercial received a lot backlash from the public, particularly Indian-Americans, who called it racist. Being accused of racism is a serious issue and Popchips needed to deal with the people it had offended, its employees, the media, and the public.

Technical entrepreneur Anil Dash criticized the ad on his blog saying the commercial was made to poke fun at Indians, which was not funny. The company quickly pulled the commercial and responded to the backlash by issuing an apology saying: The new popchips worldwide dating parody featuring four characters was created to provoke a few laughs and was never intended to stereotype or offend anyone. At popchips we embrace all types of shapes, flavors and colors, and appreciate all snackers, no matter their race or ethnicity. We hope people can enjoy this in the spirit it was intended.