Senator Marsha Blackburn, who is campaigning for Tennessee governor, has drawn sharp criticism for a newly released campaign ad that critics are calling racist and culturally insensitive. The ad features Blackburn crushing fortune cookies with her bare hands as a metaphor for her approach to dealing with China.
In the video, Blackburn asks, "How hard am I gonna crack down on China?" before proceeding to crush the cookies. A narrator then emphasizes her toughness and her alignment with former President Donald Trump. Blackburn concludes the ad by stating, "It doesn’t take a fortune cookie to figure it out. Here in Tennessee, we’re going to stop communist China and protect Tennessee land."
However, critics pointed out significant factual inaccuracies in the ad's symbolism. Fortune cookies, far from being a Chinese tradition, are largely an American invention with roots in Japan, and are seldom found in China itself. The South China Morning Post noted in 2024 that there is no universally recognized Chinese term for "fortune cookies."
The ad also includes a waving "lucky cat" figure, identified as a "maneki-neko," which originates from Japan, though these figures are commonly displayed in Chinese homes and businesses. Even the soy sauce bottle visible in the ad features Kikkoman, a Japanese brand. The ad concludes with the sound of a gong.
Commentators took to social media to denounce the ad. Kurt Bardella questioned the ad's relevance to a gubernatorial race, highlighting Tennessee's lower rankings in healthcare, public school performance, and per-student spending. Others described the ad as "insane" and "idiotic," emphasizing the inaccuracy of using fortune cookies to represent China and pointing out the cultural disconnect.
Ben Norton remarked on the irony of the ad, stating, "This Republican Congress member boasts of how much she hates China by crushing fortune cookies with her hands. By the way, fortune cookies were invented by Japanese immigrants in the US. They don't eat them in China."
Franklin Leonard also resurfaced a detail about Blackburn's family history, noting her father was a "volunteer sheriff" in Mississippi in the 1950s, alongside calling the ad "insane."
Another user, csz, commented on the ad reflecting "US sinophobia" and its "unselfconscious impact on Chinese-Americans represented by the crushing of the fortune cookies that aren’t a thing in China itself."