Complaints mount against Trident ad

by John Tylee, Campaign 02-Mar-07

Advertising watchdogs are to investigate a TV ad for Trident chewing gum after being inundated with complaints that it is racist.

The Advertising Standards Authority decided to act after the number of complaints against the ad had reached 85 by Wednesday afternoon.

The JWT ad for the Cadbury Schweppes brand features a Jamaican comedian on stage complaining about the blandness of chewing gum.

But his opinion changes when he is handed a pack of Trident and he begins a personal crusade with the slogan: "Mastication for the nation."

Mike McKenna, the JWT senior creative who helped produce the film, said: "We would never have written anything we thought was going to upset people."

He said the film was inspired by dub poetry exemplified by such performers as the poet Benjamin Zephaniah.

"The actor certainly never thought it had racist overtones," McKenna added.

"I would never have set out to upset anybody. I have good friends who are non-white."

Comments

Inma Martinez - 02/03/2007

Anyone who complaints about a national accent spoken by one of its indignous peope is either out of touch with society or simply has too many hangups.

In response to Inma Martinez, the accent is not spoken by one of it's indignous people. To someone brought up in a Jamacian household and can tell the differing accents of the Caribbean, I'm not clear what accent he was trying mimick. Those who have no knowledge of the caribbean accent are clearly out of touch with caribbean society and it's dialects. They simply would not understand the offence this may cause that community. Diversity is not as simplistic as you percieve it to be Inma. I would argue the you are obviously out of touch and don't properly understand the issue.