Mary J. Blige's Burger King commercial pulled

Mary J. Blige attends The Escape To Total Rewards at Woldenberg Park on March 1, 2012, in New Orleans.

/ Skip Bolen/Getty Images for Caesars Entertainment

(CBS/AP) Mary J. Blige's Burger King commercial, which featured the Grammy-winning R&B star singing about chicken, has been pulled off the air.

The fast-food chain is blaming music licensing issues, not criticism of the ad, for the decision to pull it.

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The ad, which features Blige singing soulfully about chicken wraps, premiered this week.

But as the video went viral, some in the black community criticized the ad as stereotypical. The black women-oriented website Madame Noire likened it to "buffoonery."

Burger King said Tuesday the commercial was pulled because of a licensing concern. The company said it hopes to have the Blige "ads back on the air soon," though a spokeswoman would not comment on whether they ads would be the same.

The spokeswoman also noted that other celebrities, including Salma Hayek and Jay Leno, also are advertising the snack wraps.

A rep for Blige did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

[ratman617]

Ask the chickens if they give a damn who happens to eat them; I mean literally ask them. I guarantee that their response will make more sense than the people who cry racism because a woman who happens to be black (I don't care if she's black, white, or a leprechaun) is featured singing in an ad for chicken. Anyone who is offended by a person of any color doing an ad for chicken chooses to be offended. These bigoted busybodies have a perpetual chip on their shoulders, and actually are themselves in their demeanor reminiscent of chickens, as they rapidly turn their heads this way and that way, vigilantly darting their eyes about lest some hidden racist code word or innuendo escape their scrutiny. Are you serious, people? Unfortunately for all of us, some of you are.

[cbsisbiasedasarse]

black people are so concerned with what white people think, let me tell you something I could care less what you think I do what I do and you can kiss my white arse

[cbsisbiasedasarse]

if you like chicken and watermelon who cares if you want to make it racist then you are an idiot, I love watermelon and chicken and lots of other things, who cares what other people think, it is not my problem I eat what I eat and do what I do and if you don't like it shove it up your momma obama's the racist presidents arse

[jeklv1]

Calling this ad racist is really stretching things. What a bunch of bs.

[nyctreeman]

Anyone who believes this nonsense that the commercial was released prematurely, is an idiot and has no clue how involved something like that process is....the idea that a major corporation like Burger King, who is very sensitive about their race-neutral status would make such a mistake is beyond laughable.

What really happened is, the commercial was released and both Burger King execs and Mary Blige were SHOCKED by the ridiculous viral negative reaction, and they both panicked and concocted this story.

Since the commercial has absolutely NO stereotypical aspects, one must assume that the people complaining are now telling us that black people cannot be portrayed with fried chicken products under any circumstances.

And I would ask those people "What does that say about you?"

The more we tolerate these thought-police bullies, the more they'll demand in the future, to the point where even black people will become the victims of it, just like Mary Blige found out this week.

[furious64]

so what about watermelon, grape soda, waffles, ribs, hocks, and sweet potatoe pie? all racist foods? give me a break...

[jashn7987]

So are black people not allowed to eat or like chicken anymore, unless it is called racist by other black people?

[NAVFAM]

It is pretty funny that when they mention stereotypes, the say "Black community", not African American. Stands to reason, the label "African American" IS a stereotype, since not everyone from Africa is black.

[Super-B66]

Black people love to eat chicken, it's a simple fact. Drive through any inner city area and what do you see? Chicken fast food style restaurants. Blacks need to stop being offended, stop blaming others for all that ills you and concentrate on something that REALLY matters; such as the horribly low high school graduation rates of black males in our urban areas.

[breto62]

This did not become racist until everyone laughed at how dumb this commercial was; the overrated and non-talented Blige had no problems making the ad until she became a laughingstock.