Why The Mahjong Line and the rebranding of ethnic products by all White founders is so problematic

My phone hasn’t stopped pinging all day. Some of my posts on social media calling out The Mahjong Line for their cultural appropriation are catching a ton of attention.

As Brand champions, it’s our duty to get the right message across.

When we write and amplify campaigns on behalf of a company, product, or cause, it’s in our best interest to examine its effects from every angle. To put the end user first, to do what’s good not just what’s comfortable or profitable.

When there’s no diversity in leadership, there’s no diversity in thought. The product lacks perspective, the audience won’t scale.

The Mahjong Line is a prime example of an all White executive that hired an all White branding and design agency to reproduce, re-brand, and thereby ridicule a centuries-old traditional Chinese game. My fellow Asians and allies are outraged, and rightfully so.

If you own an agency and a potential client comes to you with an ethnic product that you do not have any first-hand experience in, pass it on to someone who does. 

The Mahjong Line and O&H Brand Design's first problem was that their teams are too homogenous, the second problem is that they put cashing in a client cheque above asking whether it's their place to do so. Sure you could take on this project, but should you?

The copy is especially problematic. So many things about this brand are but let’s look deeper into my field of expertise.

It’s a common copy framework, right? State the problem, pose your product as the solution. 

The problem here is that there was no problem to begin with. It has been created by the White gaze, putting their own personal White-centered aesthetic choices on a pedestal and denigrating the ethnic originals as lacking fun, style, or status. There’s a word for profiting off of a problem that you create - racketeering.

It is deeply problematic to erase the originating minority from your brand completely. And this is what The Mahjong Line has done. There is not one single mention of China or the word Chinese in their company’s 'About Us' page. 

The only attempt at citing Mahjong’s Chinese heritage is in their FAQ section where they reclaim the game as American just because it’s popular here.

To put it mildly, this is foolish. To put it accurately, this is racist and White supremacist marketing and rebranding.

All people are welcome to participate and celebrate each other’s cultures. What you shouldn’t do is replace, erase, and silence cultures from which you steal and profit off the backs of.

If you are a startup founder or corporate executive, look around you. If you are part of an all White team and that’s just the way things have to be for now, my lines are open if you ever need a woman or person of colour to weigh in and consult.

Check yourself before you wreck yourself.

(Originally from my LinkedIn feed as a 3 part post. Thanks to my friend, Emilio, for suggesting this be a permanent article)