Congratulations go out this week to McDonald's which has pushed racial stereotyping into the Web 2.0 era.

McDonald's has done a second take on its infamous I-AM-ASIAN web site, adding some Flash glitz to what used to be a boring hamburger fetish zone. Gone are the odes to Asian and Pacific Islander Americans who "live on the rim" and enjoy green tea with their Big Macs. Instead, we now find an interactive living room that extolls the virtues of McDonald's relationship with the Asian community.

The one constant across both the old and new sites is McDonald's inclusion of a cute dog. Before, we had a Pug in a McDonald's t-shirt. Now, we have a puppy that jumps up and down yelling, "Year of the dog" in some sort of demeaning, stereotypical accent.

Why the dog hang-up? We'll let you answer that.

McDonald's I-AM-ASIAN web site should not be seen as a shallow ploy to form a relationship with Asian youngsters, despite the picture of a Happy Meal Tent on a PDA. No, this is all about celebrating McDonald's love for all races and its hip use of web site design. ®

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