Irish car parking internet ad is a little bit Irish
ByThe Advertising Standards people in the UK received 1 complaint about this internet viral which ran on kontraband.com.
The complainant objected that the ad was offensive because it was racist towards Irish and Romany travelers.
The ASA did not uphold the complaint:
“….the ad was intended to show a humorous contrast between a fictional caricature and a company that valued security. We also noted Holiday Extras had not received any complaints. We considered, because the character kicked a car and was drinking beer while running a business, for example, the ad presented him as a fictional, extreme character; someone who was removed from reality. We noted the character spoke with a heavy Irish accent and ran his business from a caravan. However, because he displayed extreme behaviour from which the humour in the ad was derived, we did not consider the ad suggested that behaviour was typical of Irish or Romany communities.
We understood that some people could find the ad in poor taste but concluded it was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence. We investigated the ad under CAP Code clause 5.1 (Decency) but did not find it in breach.”
Would the ASA have come to the same conclusion if it was a member of the muslim community that played a starring role in the viral? Just suppose he was portrayed with a bomb strapped around his waist. That’s as much a stereotype as a drunken Irish man.
Seems to me that the attitude towards the Irish hasn’t changed much since the time Eastenders came to Ireland.
h/t Seamus Whelehan
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2 Comments
December 5th, 2008 at 6:51 am
AJ, “park your worries with your car” is brilliant as a slogan and should be patented forthwith. However, the ASA’s PR person needs a good editor. The writing is awful.
As to stereotype – what the hell. If it makes people happy to imagine all Frenchmen eating frogs legs, all Germans downing beer, all Swiss counting money, all Swedish women to be the incarnation of some northern goddess, all Gypsies driving Mercedes with their ill gotten gains – indeed all Irish staggering around in the midst of them all – why not?This “foreigner” has lived abroad for many a year, and amusement is mine.
U
PS The really sweet part of your entry that only ONE person complained. Tells yet another story, don’t you think?
December 7th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Being an internet ad – possibly not as many people saw it. If this was shown on TV I reckon more than one person would have said something.