Wednesday, April 9, 2008

MBP of the Week: NBC Universal

Well, this is something different: a Misidentified Black Person on an official webpage of a big-time television studio. To wit, NBC Universal... which makes the Tina Fey sitcom “30 Rock.”

See this screencap? The black guy there? He’s not “Kevin Brown as Dot Com.” He’s Keith Powell as Toofer.

(“Dot Com” is one of Tracy Morgan’s big beefy bodyguards. “Toofer” is a comedy writer.)

See now, this is why we need Obama in the White House. Put a stop to this all-black-people-look-alike shit.

7 comments:

SJ said...

When I first came across your blog and this MBP feature, I thought you were just paranoid and wouldn't be able to come up with enough examples.

I stand corrected.

This one is even worse, considering how NBC can't get it right for their own show.

Anonymous said...

OUCH! How WRONG!!!!!

bklyn6 said...

I'll bet the media never confuses twins Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen.

Matt Norwood said...

Huh. I always assumed they spelled it "Twofer". Is "toofer" the accepted spelling for the generic term, as in shorthand for "two for one"?

(Answer, per Google: "two-fer" seems the most common spelling for the generic term. And I'm not the only one who has this question about the character. But after writing it out, I realize that "Toofer" is more attractive and legible than "Twofer".)

Oh yeah, also: this MBP thing is fucked up. UBM has done some really valuable ethnographic work with this feature.

Undercover Black Man said...

I stand corrected.

Ahhh... you made my day, SJ! I knew in my gut that I would never run out of these! I first noticed this phenomenon 20 years ago. I only wish I started scrap-booking it back then. ;^D

I mean... it's so funny! Each new one just heightens the joke.

Undercover Black Man said...

I'll bet the media never confuses twins Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen.

That is funny!

Undercover Black Man said...

Is "toofer" the accepted spelling for the generic term, as in shorthand for "two for one"?

Toofer's the IMDB spelling. Never have seen that spelling before (but have never heard it as a nickname before).

Thanks, Matt, for the kind words.