Pulling On the Skin

Really, Spain?:

BEIJING — Pictures in a newspaper advertisement that a spokeswoman for the I.O.C. called “clearly inappropriate” have left the Spanish basketball teams apologizing for its contents.

The Spanish men’s and women’s basketball teams posed for pictures pulling on the skin behind their eyes to make it look as if they were Asia. The pictures have run in an advertisement for the Spanish courier company, Seur, in the Spanish sports daily, Marca, for the last month.

Pau Gasol, who plays for the Lakers, described this little anecdote:

“Some of us didn’t feel comfortable doing it,” Gasol said. “To me it was little clownish for our part to be doing that. The sponsor insisted and insisted. They pushed because they’re the people that pay the money. It was just a bad idea to do that. It was never intended to be offensive or racist against anybody.”

Lovely.