Ad watchdog rules against Tyreright ad for mocking Asian man
The Ad Standards Board (ASB) has upheld a complaint against an ad for Tyreright as it “perpetrates Asian stereotypes” by mocking a man mispronouncing a word despite the firm arguing it “endears” the person to the viewer.
Featuring comedian Vince Sorrenti as the brand spokesperson, the ad featured him explaining the benefits of using the brand answering people’s concerns, including an Asian man who asks if he is ‘wong’, which Sorrenti repeats back to him.
A complaint to the ASB read: “I personally feel that this message, about getting $30 back if your tyres aren’t fitted in 30min, could have been conveyed without bringing down Asian people. There are many Asian looking people, both from overseas and born in Australia, who can speak perfectly clearly, and making fun of those who are learning to speak a second language certainly doesn’t encourage those who are not confident with English to use, practice, and improve their language abilities.
“This ad perpetuates Asian stereotypes. An Asian man is claiming that the claim ” is not Wong” , clearly he can’t understand , nor speak English properly. The ad is inherently racist in its portrayal of this man. I could not believe in this day and age I was subjected to such obviously racist stereotyping.”
Tyreright defended the ad, telling the ad watchdog it was never their intention to offend or alienate any potential customers.
“The people depicted in the TVC are not actors, they are all ‘real’ people. We would not want to offend our friend Charlie who is one of the talent. Charlie speaks in ‘broken’ English, he did not ‘put on’ an accent and he is not offended. If a child cannot say a ‘difficult word’ for Yukult and a child cannot say the word Hoechst, both campaigns previously on TV. Is this not the same… to make a ‘cute’ observation of someone’s speech. It endears that person to us. It’s a humorous ad that helps break down discrimination… be it a child or an adult.”
The brand also justified using spokesperson Vince Sorrenti, because he is from an Italian heritage adding: “He is the first to poke fun at his own upbringing and does so without any intent to offend. We are able to celebrate these differences between us, by noting there are differences between us. We are not all the same… adding humour and noting these differences celebrates that. I apologise if you do not agree with his approach in this case, but assure you that our intentions are to be light hearted, informative and entertaining.”
While a minority of the Board considered “that whilst it could be interpreted as poor taste for Vince to reply to the Asian man with “wong” this response is delivered in manner which is gently mocking rather than negative”, the view of the board was that “standards have evolved over time” and most members of the public “world find that the ‘joke’ of mocking an accent in this manner has worn thin”.
The board felt that “in this instance the depiction of Vince Sorrenti repeating a word which has been mispronounced by an Asian man amounts to ridicule”, ruling the depiction of the Asian man in “a market garden setting with Asian workers toiling the field behind him” is one “which marks him out as a different from the other people used in the advertisement and considered that this depiction along with the use of the word ‘wong’ amounts to an overall representation of an Asian person which mocks and ridicules him”.
TyreRight has accepted the ruling “even though there were only a few complaints against” it, which they said “can be countered by many positive reactions to the ad from members of the public who do not agree that any offense was intended”.
They told the ASB: “We will withdraw the ad, in its current form from TV, as was planned from the end of April 2014”.
Miranda Ward
Miranda Ward worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2017, eventually becoming deputy editor. Miranda joined Mumbrella in September 2013 from Sky News.
Linkedin
I’ll bet the complaint came from a non-Asian person. A Caucasian busybody who feels the need to enforce political correctness on the world. Bolstered by more busybodies on “the Board”.
Warning: generalisation coming: Asian people have a robust sense of humour. In Sydney there’s a very successful food outlet called Miss Chu, whose strap line is “You ling, we bling!” Everyone loves it. Owned and run by successful Asian Australians. Enough said.
User ID not verified.
Well, the first half of the ad is still salvageable, along with the very last bit. A reshoot should patch up that cringe-inducing bit.
User ID not verified.
@Mike — So only Asian people can be offended by racism against Asians? And your generalisation is moronic. Just because one Asian restauranteur (presumably — who’s to say the owner is in fact Asian?) is happy to make a joke, doesn’t mean the whole community is going to be OK with a bunch of agency hacks and marketing managers ostensibly making fun of them.
User ID not verified.
Oh come on JC, almost every joke ever written takes the piss out of someone. If you have ever been to Asia you will hear some made at your expense. And in the UK, France, perhaps not in the USA because they don’t have a sense of humour. Are you American? If not, and even if, get out more, lighten up, enjoy life.
User ID not verified.