http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Oct/10172003/business/business.asp

New 'SuperDell' ad offends Indians

By Bob Mims
The Salt Lake Tribune

In the latest of Totally Awesome Computers' typically bizarre
television advertisements, a mock professor is asked about the mysterious
"Shiffer Indians."
The Shiffers are an extinct tribe, the straight-faced academic says,
whose members died out long ago because of their notorious stupidity. Then
comes the punch line: And so today, people who don't buy their computers
from Totally Awesome are known as having "Shiffer brains."
"Sure, it's juvenile. Very juvenile," Totally Awesome owner Dell
"SuperDell" Schanze said Thursday. "But it's obviously intended to be
funny. . . . I have nothing against Indians. All groups have people known
for being foolish. Caucasians have Democrats, for example."
Nonetheless, the spot has generated more than a few critics. Forrest
Cuch, executive director of the Utah Division of Indian Affairs -- born and
raised on northeastern Utah's Uintah and Ouray Ute Indian Reservation -- is
among those not laughing.
"I got some calls complaining about it," said Cuch, who offered to help
Schanze revamp the commercial. "I called [Totally Awesome] and was told to
send an e-mail. I asked for a meeting to sit down with [Schanze] and talk,
but he doesn't want to talk, he wants to dictate."
The two carried on a spirited e-mail exchange earlier this week. In
one, Cuch wrote: "What I am saying is simply this: You are making fun of
one of the most vulnerable populations, especially the youth, and they
don't even have computers; some don't even have telephones, hence Internet
access."
Schanze responded: "That's just it; I'm not making fun of them," he
wrote, claiming that his fictional Shiffer Indians were based on an actual
ill-fated tribe called the "Beoceans" he found mentioned in an unspecified
encyclopedia.
"You shouldn't let people take offense at something that has nothing to
do with them," he added, offering at one point to put American Indian role
models into a future commercial. "The ad is not the problem; their
self-esteem is far more likely the culprit to their dismay."
What Schanze has no plans to do, however, is pull the Shiffer ad. It
will run its course in Totally Awesome's advertising rotation. "I'm going
to be me, regardless what other people think of me," Schanze declares.
"If you don't like me, fine. I try to offend everyone -- that way, no
one feels left out or singled out."
In the case of the Northern Utes, Schanze has succeeded; the ad is fast
becoming a hot-button issue on the reservation 150 miles east of Salt Lake
City, tribal spokesman Robert Colorow said.
"When I saw it, I was totally distraught. What are they thinking?" he
said. "Even saying the word 'Indians' in that way. Why do they need to do
that?"
Lora Tom, chairwoman of the Paiute Indian Tribe in Cedar City, had not
seen the ad -- but feared some of her people might think Totally Awesome's
"Shiffer" Indians were meant as a close swipe at the Paiutes Shivwits Band.
(Schanze said he had been unaware of the Shivwitses' existence).
"It sounds pretty close to Shivwits," Tom said. "Of course, it would be
offensive to any tribe. I can see trying to sell things, but not by
offending different tribes and cultures."
However, not all Utah tribal leaders were indignant over Schanze's
means to sell computers by playing off a familiar vulgar phrase.
Bruce Parry, executive director of the Northwestern Band of Shoshoni in
Pocatello, Idaho, also had not seen the ad.
However, after hearing it described, Parry wondered if the reaction was
perhaps too strident.
"Some people are pretty touchy about things like that," he said. "I'm
sure there are some people in our tribe who would be offended. But I'm not
so touchy, and I don't mind a little humor . . . as long as it doesn't
belittle Indian people or is in really bad taste."
Does a fictional tribe meet that standard? For some yes, for others,
no, Parry said.
He pointed to this summer's Festival of the American West near Logan.
Newspaper ads for the event depicted an elderly American Indian man with
the words, "Meet an Indian Warrior and live to tell about it."
Parry said some American Indians thought the ad dredged up the
stereotypes of violent, wagon train-massacring tribes. "It really didn't
bother me," he said. "I kind of got a kick out of it."
bmims@...

Relevant Links:
Totally Awesome - http://www.totallyawesome.com
Superdell Sucks - http://www.superdellsucks.com