Miso Pretty

[Sizwe_X]

http://www.blueq.com/shop/114-catId.117440552_114-productId.0.html

They have a whole line I ran across at Giant Eagle yesterday. Yay.

http://www.blueq.com/modules/ecs/images/125837271_m.png

[cloudzero]

offended
what can be done about this?

[SunWuKong]

yeah i've seen that "Miso Pretty" brand.

i actually saw this on sale last week at the supermarket:
http://www.alliedoldenglish.com/images/AH-DETAILS/AH-ORIGINAL.jpg

http://www.alliedoldenglish.com/ahso.php?flavor=original

[cloudzero]

Except Ah-So is an actual Chinese phrase.
Miso Pretty is an accent and the product is made by white people.
It is much more offensive.

[SunWuKong]

Except Ah-So is an actual Chinese phrase.

really? enlighten me on what it means? because i have no idea.

[cloudzero]

In Cantonese its what you call your brother's wife.
Its how I have to greet them.
Are you just testing me?

[eos]

so...the brand would be "cantonese sister-in-law" sauce? interesting.

tip: please research things if you're unclear. we don't post things like this for no reason. (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ahso)

[Adaon]

In Cantonese its what you call your brother's wife.
Its how I have to greet them.
Are you just testing me?

Nope. No offense, but I have more faith in Rad's tonal distinctions than yours, as he seems to have more experience with the language than you.

[AngryABCGirl]

I think you guys are referring to 啊嫂 (Ah-Shau) right? Am not Cantonese.

However I really don't think the racist caricature label on these foods is intentionally referring to that but using it more because it has the hop singy flair to it.

[TB4000]

That Miso Pretty mascot's cheekbones are just outrageous.

[cloudzero]

so...the brand would be "cantonese sister-in-law" sauce? interesting.

tip: please research things if you're unclear. we don't post things like this for no reason. (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ahso)

Since it was labeled Chinese style, I thought i was free to use my own interpretation. If that phrase is Japanese and is still labeled "Chinese Style" then it would be pretty offensive.

[Craig]

That Miso Pretty mascot's cheekbones are just outrageous.I know a Taiwanese woman who has huge cheekbones relative to a tiny chin. Outrageous isn't exactly the word that comes to mind though.

[popculturepooka]

Except Ah-So is an actual Chinese phrase.
Miso Pretty is an accent and the product is made by white people.
It is much more offensive.

Miso is an actual Japanese word...

[cloudzero]

So both products just white people confusing Japanese stuff with Chinese stuff. I feel like a jackass.

[tripostrophe]

Well, actually I think it goes beyond that. There's obviously a reason why they chose those phrases/names, and I'm pretty sure they know the offensive nature of those phrases. More likely it's white people trying to be funny with good-natured ribbing to encourage us to learn to laugh at ourselves, rather than a benign type of thing.

Was looking for an address for you to write to, but looking through their site...looks like a pretty sketchy kitsch company. No contact information, very loose offhand way of providing info. Very unprofessional, and hopefully likely to fold. Unless of course their crap just happens to be the right stuff to strike a chord with the market. But...

[Napoleon Chynamite]

Miso is an actual Japanese word...

Uh yeah, and fried rice is an actual menu item in many Chinese restaurants, so white people making fried rice jokes would be okay too.

[AngryABCGirl]

So both products just white people confusing Japanese stuff with Chinese stuff. I feel like a jackass.

Um I don't think so. I think they were both picked because they are carticature-esque.

[eos]

i wish i was still innocent and young enough to believe it's all confusion between chinese and japanese things.

jeebus, how old are you people and where the hell do you live? wake up. it's not all puppies, rainbows, and candy out there.

[Adaon]

I'm annoyed at the fact they're using Engrish in their advertising stuffs.

[AngryABCGirl]

i wish i was still innocent and young enough to believe it's all confusion between chinese and japanese things.

jeebus, how old are you people and where the hell do you live? wake up. it's not all puppies, rainbows, and candy out there.

could not have said it any better

[popculturepooka]

Uh yeah, and fried rice is an actual menu item in many Chinese restaurants, so white people making fried rice jokes would be okay too.

when did i say it was okay?

[Napoleon Chynamite]

when did i say it was okay?

The tone of your post seemed to imply that it was at least not as bad since "miso" is an actual Japanese word, at which the point of many responders was that it wasn't. Perhaps I attached too much overtone to your post since it seemed to mirror CloudZero's remark of "ah so" being an actual Cantonese phrase and therefore not being as offensive as some other completely made-up thing. Personally there was a time when I wondered if "ah so" came from how Japanese people might say "a~sou?" like "ohh, really?" or "oh, is that so?" but either way even if the origins of the remark are real it doesn't matter since the original intention was to mock and ridicule anyway. In any case, if you didn't mean to imply what I thought you wanted to imply, my bad.

[cloudzero]

i wish i was still innocent and young enough to believe it's all confusion between chinese and japanese things.

jeebus, how old are you people and where the hell do you live? wake up. it's not all puppies, rainbows, and candy out there.

ouch, its neither my age nor my enviroment. its hard to know what to do research on when you already think it means something. its sad that i can't even tell what the offense is. the people on yw seem like einsteins compared to me. so you guys can imagine what my friends are if they feel im an einstein compared to them. how can the yw community expect to reach to a large population when its operating at such an elitist level? not that im implying its being done intentionally. i do try because no one wants to make an ass of themselves like i did on this thread, but you smart people will always have to deal with people like me if you want to spread the education

[applehead]

ouch, its neither my age nor my enviroment. its hard to know what to do research on when you already think it means something. its sad that i can't even tell what the offense is. the people on yw seem like einsteins compared to me. so you guys can imagine what my friends are if they feel im an einstein compared to them. how can the yw community expect to reach to a large population when its operating at such an elitist level? not that im implying its being done intentionally. i do try because no one wants to make an ass of themselves like i did on this thread, but you smart people will always have to deal with people like me if you want to spread the education

hahahahaha.
that makes perfect sense.
good for you for speaking your mind!
and you didn't make an ass out of yourself.

[monkeygone2]

its neither my age nor my enviroment. its hard to know what to do research on when you already think it means something.

People were surprised that you've NEVER seen a non-Asian person squint/bow & "ah-so".
I also thought you might not be American. Or maybe you were born in more pc times.
But c'mon, this "ah-so" image can be seen on A&F shirts!

how can the yw community expect to reach to a large population when its operating at such an elitist level?
I think you had neg karma at the time for saying "chink"?
People were probably suspicious & reacting to that.

the people on yw seem like einsteins compared to me. so you guys can imagine what my friends are if they feel im an einstein compared to them.
LOL! I've read your past comments... I'll take that as a funny way of busting on your detractors. AND your friends! Almost as slick as your web design portfolio!

[eos]

umm...it's not about being smart.

it's called being AWARE of things going on around you.

and elitist? please. i have dealt with some sort of racism since i was small (being bowed to, people pulling up their eyes, "ching-chong", etc.) and was utterly taken aback by your (somewhat) refreshing innocence. if you think i feel all high and mighty because i've had racial slurs thrown at me, that's just twisted.

[applehead]

oh yeah and we're hardly elitist here.
have you read some of our posts?!?!
hehe

[deez nuts]

funny stuff.

they, however, need a miso horny penis numbing spray. i definitely need that.

[popculturepooka]

The tone of your post seemed to imply that it was at least not as bad since "miso" is an actual Japanese word, at which the point of many responders was that it wasn't. Perhaps I attached too much overtone to your post since it seemed to mirror CloudZero's remark of "ah so" being an actual Cantonese phrase and therefore not being as offensive as some other completely made-up thing. Personally there was a time when I wondered if "ah so" came from how Japanese people might say "a~sou?" like "ohh, really?" or "oh, is that so?" but either way even if the origins of the remark are real it doesn't matter since the original intention was to mock and ridicule anyway. In any case, if you didn't mean to imply what I thought you wanted to imply, my bad.

No, I didn't mean it like that. I was just point out that miso is an actual Japanese word. It's ok.

I know it comes from the negative asian stereotype, that asians can't speak english well. Like: "Me so horny" or in this case "Me so pretty". They probably thought they were pretty clever replacing "Me so" with "Miso".......