I'm afraid I have to disagree.
As Jamie said, the images used are exactly those from the poem.
I love Robert Burns, his work and what he did for Scotland. I think he should be rightly honoured for those things and Burns suppers are fitting tributes to him.

The address was written in a time where the French revolution, Scottish patriotism, the American revolution and many other things were either in full swing, brewing or just finished.
Most of the Burnsian Scholars I have spoken to agree that the Address was a way he showed patriotism and stood up for humble Scottish values and people; With that said, though, they agree that it is a light-hearted and sometimes comic piece.

I adore Robert Burns for many reasons, but I don't put him on a pedestal. Many of his works were serious works done under a comic prose and he himself described them as such.
At the same time as half of Scotland was lauding him while he was still alive, the other half was appalled at his excessive drinking, his consistent philandering and many other things.

I have seen people recite it as dry as cardboard and other give Brian blessed a run for his money with dramatic flair.
I think it neither racist not offensive that the NorCal group took his work and gave it a comic edge that helped those not familiar with him both understand the poem itself and feel included. That is how many people become converted to Burns and make the effort to learn such things as Lallans.

While I can certainly understand someone being offended that they took a poem so beloved by modern Scots and performed it in a more comic than grave manor, I find it a little wild to say that it is racist or xenophobic.
I think that's starting to run into Godwin's law territory.
"As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches"




As far as the headgear; I think it is well known on this forum that the NorCal rabble like to wear a fez or pith helmet. They even explained it in the first video. They even made a point of saying, and I paraphrase 'We love Robert Burns and having Burns suppers but we are a comic bunch and this is reflected in our hats and the way we present things.'

I simply don't understand why anyone would find it so terribly offensive unless they genuinely believe that Robert Burns himself was a perfect and Grave man and that Burns night is THE night of Scottish culture and heritage.


Now, if they were to do a comic rendition of the Declaration of Arbroath, THEN I would be very offended.