MELBOURNE - Australia's advertising watchdog has struck a blow against the stereotype of the whinging Pom - upholding complaints from irate Englishmen offended by a beer advertisement.
The Advertising Standards Board (ASB) yesterday said the Tooheys New Super Cold radio advertisement negatively stereotyped and demeaned the British, andfound it to be in breach of section 2.1 of the Advertiser Code of Ethics dealing with vilification based on nationality.
The board reviewed the radio advertisement, in which a group of British men sing the tune of Land of Hope and Glory using various synonyms of the word whinge including whine, moan, slag and complain.
The advertisement ended with the voice-over saying "Introducing Tooheys New Super Cold, served so cold it's a Pom's worst nightmare".
The board felt that the negative words used in the advertisement detracted from the otherwise playful nature of the word Pom, leaving it with a "derogatory and almost hostile meaning", said ASB acting CEO Mark Jeanes.
The advertisement has now been taken off the air.
"The board also considered the annual Meat and Livestock Australia Day ad presented by personality Sam Kekovich, exhorting people to eat lamb on our national day," Mr Jeanes said.
"The ad received a lot less complaints than last year's version.
"Some complainants believed the ad stereotyped and vilified minority groups, including vegetarians," he said.
"But the board decided that the ad was in good humour and did not intend to genuinely vilify or hurt any particular section of the community."
The board also upheld complaints about a television advertisement for Shell V-Power petrol which showed a man base jumping from a cliff and again from the top of a tall building.
