Uncle Ben’s is running an ad for sweet and sour sauce at the moment that hits just about every Chinese stereotype button there is. Clearly someone in their marketing company thinks this is (a) funny, (b) acceptable, and (c) a good way to sell more of their product. Ha! (Not a Chinese sort of Ha! in case you thought I was falling into the same trap as UB) I’ve got news for them. There’s a bit of a backlash going on in the backwaters of th’Interpipes. Turns out it’s only funny if you’re not Chinese, it’s only acceptable if your view of Chinese people is stuck somewhere in the 1940s, and you may well end up selling less sauce that you thought. Or at least, with some egg (foo yung) on your face. Click through to find out what the flippin’ heck I’m on about.

Related: More of our musings on the nation’s telly adverts.

I have my partner to thank for finding this – she follows the crafty handbagging blog of the lady concerned – but yesterday said lady had more than handbags on her mind. She was in a flap about Uncle Ben and their racial stereotyping. The result is one of the most amusing and effective rants I’ve read recently, so I thought I’d share it with you.

Here you go: An Open Letter to Uncle Ben

The comments are pretty funny too.