Wondering who this uber-hot guy is? Let me introduce him. His name is Mr. James and he’s becoming one of Japan’s up-and-coming stars (well not exactly).

He is the new face of McDonald’s campaign of new burgers and he’s making a fool of himself. With his geeky glasses, bad teeth and horrible Japanese skills- is this how Japan stereotypes white foreigners? Mr. James may just be a parody character to incite a few laughs here and there but a few people feel that he is threatening equality rights of foreigners and naturalized citizens in Japan.

The complaints mostly revolve around the image and personality of Mr. James and the effect it can have on native citizens of Japan. For example the McDonald’s commercials below can give Japanese citizens the idea that all white people who visit (or live in) Japan speak broken Japanese or are goofy, reinforcing a negative stereotype of foreigners.

However, the U.S. is not without its share of stereotype commercials. Check out commercials from Six Flags and Hot Pockets that features an odd Asian character that speaks broken English. I’m Asian and I don’t personally feel offended by these commercials. I know they’re there just for laughs. People shouldn’t take things so seriously but then again, Japan is a totally different society than the U.S. With its population mainly Japanese, Japanese citizens who don’t encounter foreigners too often may take the stereotype seriously.

source: DISGRASIAN