I have no known Asian ancestory in me and I find these pictures 1,000% offensive.  I'm outraged at such a thing.  I know that if I were asked to pose like this, I'd simply walk away and not lower myself to such degradation.  Damn...I'm furious that this kind of shite still takes place.  One huge step backwards for human-kind.

Oh No!The womens team did it too?I was offended by this even though I am not Asian.Its just ignorant and disrepectful.Spain should just get rid of those ads but they just want to be stubborn and say "its a joke" but many of us ARE NOT LAUGHING.

I also saw the mens version too, I too don't understand.

i dont really understand this shit

excuse me xibanyae, BUT you do point to others in your prior comments.  here is an example "this is a sensationalist campaign by the brits news, nothing more. followed by other organizations"

I apologise for my mispelling, but I stand by the rest of my post.

It's ignorance. It's the stuff of what kids was like at school when they didn't know any better. It was a bad judgement call.

seeker-09: nor the spaniards or the argentines knew this was offensive to countries like the US. how do u think they were going to take that picture if they thought it was racist??? it is even insulting that someone even thinks that is possible. like NBA player pau gasol said "it is absurd!"

Jaine: pardon me but you do not know what you are talking about. WE (i am from spain) are not only pointing out others, is the opposite. also nothing in spanish spells "NADA"

the players and the team leaders have already apologized and moved on. and so am i.

to end let me quote Frank Zhang, Li Ning brand director of public affairs: "We don't think this is an insulting gesture to the Chinese,"

Zhang said. "In fact, the gesture shows that the Spanish team is so humorous, relaxing and cute. They sat around a dragon pattern, which we think showed respect to the Chinese. Li Ning Ltd. will not change any business plans with the Spanish team because of this,"

Zhang added. "People should focus on great Olympic Games instead of something else."

thanks to all who have participated and to peachey for posting this thread.

If the Spaniards knew this gesture is clearly considered racist in other countries & chose the pose anyway they put themselves in the line of fire for the strong negative reaction imo.

Don't know if there's been an official apology for the photos, but I've seen quotes from the players where they say there was no insult intended. What else can they say besides that, so for the Press to continue to dwell on it comes across as a blatant attempt to sell news by squeezing every last drop out of the negative publicity generated by the pose.

I gotta agree with flagday
though it amuses me how the spanish are pointing the finger at the Brits and Americans' for their point of view on it,  where is the self responsibly and saying, sorry we fucked up, we didn't mean to cause offense and sorry that we have.
but nope, nadda, just finger pointing at other nations.

I grew up with a few of those slanted eyes aimed at me. Hey! My eyes are slanted! Very annoying, nonetheless.

flagday: i agree with some of your points.

the ad was from the currier company SEUR  (spanish version of FedEx or DHL) it was only for the local newspaper.

san miguel, lining, molten and lenovo, are four brands sponsors of the spanish team that are asian companies. it makes no sense they were going "degrade" their asian sponsors!

they also included a dragon design on the floor, hopefully people do not think that is also racist

again, this is a sensationalist campaign by the brits news, nothing more. followed by other organizations.

oh look, the argentines did it too!  ;)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/2581173/Beijing-Olympics-Now-Argentinas-footballers-photographed-making-slit-eyed-gesture.html

we need to move on this subject. maybe i should dedicate a blog about it ;)

That's just silly.   This gesture is meant to honor their hosts, China?  Oh, I'll remember that when I travel there and meet Hu Jintao.  "Dude, hey, hang on a sec, let me give you the Spanish version of YOU ARE AWESOME."  But I agree, it was stupid and insensitive more than it was intentionally insulting or racist.  Having said that though, what kind of a frigging ad campaign was this?  Was there any "copy", text, that went along with this photo which somehow explained it?  Apparently it was was a CHINESE shoe company (headed by the guy who lit the Olympic torch, Li Ning).  WTF was HE thinking?  People who do things like this have to learn it's just not OK just because they didn't intend it to be insulting.

friends, gotta love how these pictures have been taken totally out of context internationaly thanks to: 1) spanish ingenuity, 2) a brit newspaper who strategically published the news out and 3) a group of Asian Americans who were ready to label the action as "this" and/or "that".

unfortunate/poor judgment/naiveness? yes. racism? no! in spain this gesture has never been a racially pejorative pose, there is no historical background for that to be considered racist as there is in other countries. and most importantly, in china, the host country, there is no such sensitivity either.

racism must be based on divissive degrading hate, and how come there is going to be hate in this picture? if anything, it was an attempt to get closer, a way of endearment with the nation that they are about to visit, never to make fun or degrade asians.

to me this is an example of "sensationalism" style of news. the players involved have explained it, apologized and moved on. i think the spokesman for the Organization of Chinese Americans in Washington, D.C just wanted some minutes of prime time news and media.

and in regards of the 2016 summer Olympics bid, this "unfortunate" episode has no relation to the Spanish Olympic Committee in any shape or form. It was an independent photographer/publicist agency who had the "not so smart" idea.

~sigh... I remember when I first moved to Canada, I was teased by these mean kids.. and they would pull their eyes all slanty and sing 'me Chinese, me dumb dumb..."