REED driven germanic by the ASA
20 Jan
Humour often revolves around stereotypes – more often than not, the difficulties between two people, or an unexpected outcome. Where do you draw the line, however, between humour on the basis of race or nationality on the one hand and derogatory treatment and the perpetuation of damaging stereotypes on the other? Is there one?
Reed Online created an advert which used a character speaking to his boss, who responded angrily and in German. A voice-over said “Boss a bit of a tyrant?..” 13 members of the public complained that the advert was offensive to Germans, and the Advertising Standards Authority agreed, ruling that the advert should not be broadcast again. They felt that it “reinforced a negative and outdated cultural stereotype of German people as overpowering and tyrannical”. On that basis they thought it had the potential to cause serious offence to some. The unfortunate background was that the Radio Advertising Clearance Centre had approved the advert, saying that the advert was likely to be seen as humorous by most. Reed would have thought the advert would be fine on that basis.
The rule of thumb for advertisers would appear to be that the number of people offended must be balanced against the level of offence which could be caused. In the case of religious or political subjects, and the depiction of people with disabilities, particular care is required. It appears to me that there is some discrepancy between the treatment of advertisers and some TV shows – one wonders why programmes such as Fonejacker are able to perpetuate stereotypes about a wide variety of races in the name of comedy.
