There’s no shortage of ads and merchandise that play off the (unfortunate?*) use of the word “Buddha” as slang for weed.  Hence this one, above, sent by Alex of Dharma Bums, who writes:

Saw this ad in the back of Citybeat Magazine here in San Diego. They have a ton of ads for Medical Marijuana dispensaries and this was one of them. As usual, the Buddha is tokin’.

Thanks for sending it on, Alex.

* Whether or not the slang term is unfortunate, actually depicting the Buddha smoking has got to be. At the very least, it sure is hacky. Plus, it’s not even a Buddha, but a Buddha statue. Duh.

A new piece from the editor of the Sweden-based Asian Tribune (published by the World Institute for Asian Studies) makes no bones about the Tribune’s feelings about the phenomenon of the Dharma-Burger. (I can only imagine how they might react to that term in and of itself.)

A couple of excerpts:

Internet companies, institutes for massage, restaurants, resellers of furnishing, and breeders of exotic cats all adopt Buddha in their uninhibited capitalist interests. As well as leaching the symbolic meaning which adherents of Buddhism ascribe to the Enlightened One. Some resellers of these, as they are marketed, oriental objects, also advertise that their Buddha statues are traded fairly or subscribe to the criteria for fair production.

And:

The commercialization of Buddha is an insult to all adherents of the Buddhist tradition. And can be seen as an expression of the prevailing relation between the so called Third world and the postcolonial powers.

Some would say that this is just plain true.

Some would say you have to look at such things in a matter of context.

There’s certainly an argument that different views might largely be the result of fundamental cultural differences. But then it can be fairly said that certain aspects of certain of cultures have to be more conducive to practicing what the Buddha taught than others. After all, wasn’t the Buddha ultimately offering a path to a different kind of culture, one fueled not by outward, material pursuits but by the best of what resides inside us all?

Or is a “Buddha for Sale” maybe not so bad, because we need reminders everywhere we go, not least of all the marketplace?

And hey, each Buddha for Sale is one less Snuggie or Big Mouth Billy Bass or whatever.

Maybe, though, it’s becoming more like one more Big Mouth Billy Bass. (Or whatever.)

(Yikes!)

Anyway, what do you say? Check it out.

Comments welcome.

I’ve seen a lot of references to meditation and/or Buddhism in advertising over my past few years of tracking them. Some, arguably, have been inspired. Some have been funny. Some have been perhaps unfortunate, or even inappropriate.

As for what word might best describe this new commercial… all I’ve got, at first blush, is “weird.” *

Reader Sam DeWitt — who spotted the commercial and sent it on — playfully writes:

Who would have thought that the real reason we should cultivate wisdom and compassion via meditation is so that we can create skins for our iPhones?

I might have to re-think this whole thing!

What do you think?

Do you think there’s room for such idealized, hyperstylized, depictions of meditation — even when they’re put to use for moving product rather than, say, inspiring us to honestly look at the contents of our minds, as they are, in the present moment?

Or do you think such co-optation is in some way harmful?

* Note: having now watched it a few times, I’m still not totally sure what I think of the ad but I do have to say that A) that seems like a LONG way to go to sell such a simple thing, and B) If I said I didn’t enjoy watching it, I’d be lying.

Hey, Buddhists, and yogis! Sure, you know about Nike’s appalling contributions to human suffering.

But now they have Dharma-clothing.

What’s so “dharma” about it? Well, nothing. Just the name.

But doesn’t that name just speak to you?

Someone actually hired a plane and flew this over the Masters today (click the photo for more on that):

Look, I’m all for having a larf, but as one friend said to me:  “Very sad that someone actually paid money to do that.” And as I said back, “What if — just what IF — the dude is sincere? Not that I think that horrible Nike ad helps that argument…”

Thanks to the eagle-eyed Sam DeWitt for sending this one on:

“[This is] from the trailer for Eat Pray Love, the book version of which I have not read. But lots of my friends have and they all really loved it, so lets hope it is spreading a good counter-message to the chaos and violence which seems so prevalent in our society at times.”

Sam also included a link to the film’s trailer.

Elizabeth Gilbert’s novel, now adapted to be a film, sure has made its cultural impact, even spawning a couple of Dharma-Burgers. As we said before, let’s hope she has a sense of humor. (She seems to like to laugh, if this Shambhala Sun Audio interview is any indication.)

…they just keep coming in. Here are just some of the latest for your dubious pleasure.

Of course there’s the near-obligatory weed reference, this one on a t-shirt, via herspiral: “Here’s something we found online…yikes…”

…and another bit of faux-dharmic financial marketing, via reader Michael D:

“I love your site, and so I have a ‘Dharma-Burger’ I just found for you. Their cringe-worthy commercial came on TV yesterday, and so I looked up their site– pretty interesting way to market this!”

Other readers also sent in word of Zendough’s existence. Arielle K, for her part, describes Zendough as:

…More Dharma Burger in one place than I have ever seen:

“By offering you insight and wisdom about your credit reports and score, debt standing, and identity theft risk, the path to achieve your goals and master your finances will be smoother…  gain wisdom and confidence and proactively manage your finances… zendough.com can …help you achieve financial peace of mind. …Learn more about taking the first steps down the path to financial enlightenment at www.achievezendough.com“

Reader Jim B wrote of Zendough: “I actually had to look twice to make sure it wasn’t a parody — sadly, I think it’s real.”

…But reader Guttorm G writes with some darker stuff:

“Thanks for your wonderful site. Of course I’ve heard of socially engaged Buddhism, but it’s normally on the activists’ side. The Copenhagen police, known for their brutality, used this uniform when imprisoning activists during the climate cop15.”

[Though clearly not Buddhist, the emblem here does resemble the Wheel of Dharma.]

Guttorm goes on to write: “I was [recently] studying in Kyoto and I went to one of the 5 main Rinzai Zen temples (as well as a world heritage site), Tenryu-Ji. I’m attaching a picture of what I saw. I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry, but its certainly not what i expected”:

Laugh or cry? I don’t know. But if, somehow, Tenryu-Ji is seeing at least a little bit of money from this, that would help. …Nescafe ads at Zen temples — a sign of something terrible, or just a sign of the times?

More to come, and thanks.

Via a press release:

Steve Madden, a leading designer and marketer of fashion footwear and accessories for women, men and children, today announced that it has completed its acquisition of privately held Big Buddha, Inc., a designer and marketer of fashion-forward handbags. Founded by Jeremy Bassan in 2003, Big Buddha sells its trend-right handbags to specialty retailers, better department stores and online retailers. Big Buddha had net sales in 2009 of approximately $13 million (unaudited).

That’s one expensive Dharma-Burger.

From the Star of Mysore:

“If only the Management gurus like Peter Drucker had known of Ashoka and his inscriptions, they would have unhesitatingly called Ashoka as the Father of Advertisements.”

Really. More here.

Have you seen it? It takes place in a sort of stand-in for the Potala Palace, completing the scene with prayer wheel, devotees and a levitating semi-Dalai Lamaesque figure. Meditation, it seems, is not necessary when you have Red Bull.

I can’t find the video online yet, but will post here when I do. You can see a screenshot, thankfully, thanks to good ol’ Many Flakes, One Bowl.

(BTW, “Many Flakes, One Bowl” has to be the best Buddhist blog name, no?)