Dr Mumbo

Is it cos my ad is black?

Regular readers will no doubt recall the joys of the general public when it comes to complaints to the Advertising Standards Board.

Here’s a new one, regarding the new Panasonic Neo Plasma TV.

Can you guess the complaint? It’s this:

“You only have to look at the CNN footage a month or so ago of 5 y.o. children – black and white – identifying the “bad” person in identical cartoon drawings as being the one with dark skin – to realise how pervasive the connection between “bad” and “black is. Panasonic is perhaps thoughtless in the way they are presenting this commercial but to strongly reinforce the stereotype and strengthen the link between “black” and “bad” is socially irresponsible.”

Happily the compainant also fancies themselves as a creative director and indeed marketing director, and is happy to suggest some alternatives:

“Saying that ‘black is good’ because it lets you see colours, could work? If not then changing ad agencies might also work.”

Somewhat unsurprisingly, the board ruled: “The Board agreed that most people in the community would appreciate that the advertisement was meant to highlight the blackness of the new Panasonic TV screen and would not be considered offensive or discriminatory against people on account of their ethnicity.”

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