ASA pulls plug on Trident ads after racist complaints

by Maria Esposito Brand Republic 28-Mar-07, 08:30

LONDON - The ad watchdog has pulled the plug on Cadbury's £10m 'Mastication for the nation' TV campaign for Trident chewing gum after more than 500 complaints, some of which accused it of racism.

The watchdog ruled that Cadbury's Trident TV and cinema ads, created by JWT, breached the broadcast TV advertising standards governing offence and ethnic stereotyping.

The Advertising Standards Authority found that the four Trident ads did not incite racial intolerance, but could be seen as belittling to black or Caribbean people.

The first ad, which invokes the spirit of "revolutionary poets", featured a West Indian dub poet on stage talking about the blandness of chewing gum. An audience member hands him an exciting new type of gum, which prompts him to launch into a journey that takes him onto a boat sailing past the Houses of Parliament, shouting "mastication for the nation" through a megaphone.

The ad has become one of the most complained about of the year, racking up 519 complaints. The ASA said that greater sensitivity was required of advertisers using humour based on accents, because of the "potential to cause serious offence" and in particular if it could be seen to be patronising or demeaning to groups of people who suffer racial prejudice.

The ASA said: "The stereotype depicted in the ads had, unintentionally, caused deep offence to a significant minority of viewers and that many of those who complained to use were concerned that the negative stereotype could be perpetuated."

However, the watchdog rejected complaints about the Trident brand name. Viewers claimed that it was offensive because Trident is also the name used by the Metropolitan Police initiative to tackle black gun crime in London. It was not believed that there were complaints made about Trident also being the name of the UK's nuclear deterrent.

Cadbury defended the £10m campaign, saying that it was meant to depict a "humorous and tongue-in-cheek gum revolution". The confectionery manufacturer said it had sought the views of members of the Afro-Caribbean community and the general public during the campaign's development. Only a few had found the ads offensive, while two thirds had found them funny, Cadbury said.

Trident is not the only campaign to fall foul of the TV viewing public this year. The Department of Health's anti-smoking "fishhook" campaign has notched up 769 complaints so far, winning it the number eight spot in the most complained-about-ads rundown.

Topping the list with 1,600 complaints was KFC's TV ad featuring call-centre workers singing with their mouths full. Created by Bartle Bogle Hegarty in 2005, the ad drew the wrath of parents for encouraging bad table manners.

Comments

Peter Etheridge - 28/03/2007

unbelievable. When the joke is on a stereotypically nerdy white guy or posh englishman no-one kicks up a fuss, but this is steretyping just as much as the Trident ad. It just seems to be a trendy subject to jump on at the moment, given the widespread coverage of the 200 year anniversary of the abolition on slavery.

Sean Murricane - 28/03/2007

I agree Peter - given the sharp rise in people making complaints (it was only a few years back the most-complained about adverts were gathering 80, not 800 complaints) is it possible the ASA should review it's methods of dealing with complaints of this nature?

Anthony Andrews - 28/03/2007

Peter, Didn't realise that nerdy white men and posh englishmen were amongst those groups who suffer racial prejudice. And I also disagree about it being trendy to "jump on" the race subject. Racist ads have been about for years (who could forget the Solero shots ad a few years back with the black woman with tropical fruits on her head as a hat, with our white protagonist terrified of kissing her?). I believe it stems from advertising agencies not doing two things properly: researching sensitive social issues, such as race and disability; and not employing enough ethnic minorities within their offices - an old boys club if I ever saw one.

Joss Price - 28/03/2007

Whilst there will always be a hardcore band of those who make it their business to complain about all and sundry, I fail to see how these ads are so offensive? Have these people not seen the Malibu adverts - surely a vastly more patronising potrayal of the culture and yet they're universally loved? Everyone is entitled to an opinion but to then start trying to rope in a Met campaign to prevent the spread of gun crime in inner cities is ridiculous. I've read more convincing conspiracy theories in the Daily Sport...

scott andrews - 29/03/2007

Is the stereotype as offensive as the idea and execution behind these over long, dull ads? Although I particularly like the comment "only a few had found the ads offensive". Because a few people feeling racially discriminated against is ok. More than a handful and it's a rebrief.