More Flags, More Fun" may mean "More Outrage" for Six Flags over the amusement park chain's summer ad campaign featuring a screaming, thickly-accented young Asian man.

The commercials, which have been airing nationally for months, are being called offensive, or worse, racist.

"It's a pretty offensive ad, not only because of the thick accent, but also because someone is screaming at you," said Margaret Fung, executive director of New York's Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

"I can't believe that the company thinks this is effective."

The organization will be contacting other activist groups as it considers taking action against Six Flags, Fung said. The organization has received several e-mail complaints about the ads, she added.

"There are groups in the past who have joined together in coalitions," Fung said. "We need to speak to our other groups in the Asian American communities to see if there's an interest in starting a campaign against it."

Six Flags did not respond to repeated requests for comment. The campaign seems to be a riff on Japanese game shows or commercials featuring pop-up, hyper salesmen.

"How often have we seen this type of satire? LOTS. Now Six Flags is taking this ignorance nationwide," writes blogger Angry Chinese Guy.

The commercials are certainly obnoxious, but not racist, said Democratic City Councilman John Liu, who represents Flushing, a neighborhood with a large Asian population.

"I'm frankly annoyed by it," Liu said. "It's more than a bit annoying. But I'm not sure if I see a racist component in it. I haven't received any complaints about it."

But Aimee Baldillo, the director of programs at the Asian American Justice Center in Washington, D.C., said that the thick accent makes the caricature unmistakable.

"It's always that fallback of the stereotype of the perpetual foreigner," Baldillo said. "There's still very much that image of them [Asian Americans] as foreign and still not belonging to this country."

The center often deals with poor media portrayals of Asian Americans by sitting down with producers to explain what's offensive and how to be more sensitive.

"This is a highlight of why it's important to have diverse people in decision-making in companies and advertising," Baldillo said. "I think it speaks to the need for diversity in advertising and for some sort of interest in cultural sensitivity."

Both Baldillo and Fung said that while portrayals of Asian Americans such as this are unacceptable, they are certainly not uncommon.

"Unfortunately, there are very many examples of these kinds of racist portrayals," Fung said.

Bob Garfield, ad critic for Advertising Age and co-host of NPR's "On the Media," said that while the ads carried no blatant racism, they lack sensitivity.

"I don't see this as stereotyping because it really doesn't conform to common stereotypes of Asians. A common stereotype would be 'inscrutable' or 'good in math,'" Garfield said.

"That said, nobody wants to see his racial or ethnic characteristics turned into a cartoon. Nobody wants to be Amos 'n' Andy."

Beginning today visitors to Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey will have a chance to play at war in a whole new way, with the U.S. Army's Virtual Army Experience. The high-tech team-based simulation game gives participants the opportunity to see what its like to be in the various operational roles of soldiers in the modern day. This includes a variety of activities including learning teamwork, rules of engagement, leadership and how to use today's high-tech equipment. And as part of the experience participants will even get to play the America's Army PC game against real U.S. soldiers.

The 20-minute experience includes HMMWV simulators modeled on vehicles employed by the Special Forces, and even a Black Hawk simulator where participants must work as a team to defeat a virtual enemy. Of course all this is hardly a substitute for basic training, let alone advanced war college training, but visitors will be debriefed on their performance and told how they could improve. So if you want to see if you could make it in the field, the U.S. Army's Virtual Experience is being offered free of charge at Six Flags from August 1-10.

Big Six Pass $49.99 — THE PRICE OF A ONE-DAY ADMISSION
Now you can visit Six Flags Great Adventure six times for just $49.99 —
the price of a one-day admission ticket! Use your Big Six Pass to return for concerts, special events and Fright Fest. Visit on six regular operating days through November 2. Please note the Big Six Pass doesn't include all of the perks of a Season Pass such as a Value Book, tickets for friends or visits to other Six Flags theme parks. But with six visits for $49.99 — it's a great deal. Buy a day, get SIX visits!