Post Minstrel Anxiety

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Screengrab from Smyths Homevalue Facebook ad last  November

Remember him?

This afternoon.

Via The Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI):

The advertisement featured a man dressed in black, with his face and hands painted in black. It starts with a man flicking his tongue at the camera before proceeding to explain what products are offered on sale by the advertisers. The video concludes with the man flicking his tongue again.

Complaint:

The complainant considered the advertisement was racist and that the advertisers was selling goods using racism.

Response:

They [Smyths Homevalue] said that the premise of the video was to celebrate Ireland’s very recent and historic win over the New Zealand rugby team, named the All Blacks, while also linking it to Black Friday. They said this was portrayed by the store owner dressing entirely in a New Zealand All Blacks playing kit and painting his body with black body paint. T

They said this was brought to life further by the store owner attempting one element of the renowned New Zealand ‘Haka’ ceremonial dance, namely the ‘whetero’ routine, which is where the participant exposes their tongue.

Conclusion:

 Committee noted that the advertisers had not intended to impersonate nor insult anyone. They considered, however, that the application of face paint to completely change an individual’s complexion without context could give rise to concerns of racism. The Committee considered that the advertisement had not been responsive to the diversity in Irish society…

DIY Tools complaint (ASAI

Previously: Have We Lost The True Meaning Of Black Friday

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10 thoughts on “Post Minstrel Anxiety

  1. Ron

    The real crime here is that the goons in this quango are probably paid very handsome amounts of taxpayer money to give life to this utter stupidity.. FFS

  2. Mike Baldwin

    ‘Selling goods using racism’? A strange approach to consider. Are there any reliable metrics on the racist demographic? We should give them a name, like ‘the Pink Pound’.

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