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"Tyrant" German Radio Ad Banned In UK
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a radio commercial for implying Germans are tyrants. The advertisement for a Reed recruitment website features an angry boss speaking in German. The ASA says: "We noted the ad used a German speaker, rather than someone speaking English, to portray the boss as 'a bit of a tyrant' and the humour derived from a stereotype at the expense of German people. We considered that the portrayal suggested that German people were more likely to be unreasonable or aggressive to others. We concluded that, given the extreme reaction and aggressive tone of the German-speaking boss, the ad reinforced a negative and outdated cultural stereotype of German people as overpowering and tyrannical and therefore the ad had the potential to cause serious offence to some listeners."
Radio commercials should only be regulated for false advertising, defamation, copyright infringement and stuff like that. "Causing serious offense to some listeners" is exactly the kind of speech that freedom of speech laws are intended to protect.
Of course the original ASA response read, "Ve noted zat a german akcent ist nicht funny. Zey are not tyrants. You vill do as ve tell you und not run ze ad! Our vord ist final!!!"
Radio commercials should only be regulated for false advertising, defamation, copyright infringement and stuff like that.
Libel law in England restricts speech more than libel law in the United States. In this case, this banned advert might be defamatory against German people. Let's see: the claim is 1. negative against a group of people, 2. false, and 3. intentional.
"Nobody who speaks German could be an evil man"
Don't mention the war.
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
But, apart from that, I think that the Brits are out of line with this ad.
*** Don't be dull.***
What about all the references to Belgium people be really bad people in the UK, they say it all fo the time and there is no one complaining....
Perhaps I misunderstood what you're trying to say, but in the UK the Belgians (and Belgium) aren't seen as "bad"... they're stereotyped as being generally uninteresting. I mean, hardly anyone can name a famous Belgian; those who are are usually mistaken for being French.
Which is perhaps unfair. Their late-19th Century King, Leopold II was responsible for atrocities in central Africa on a similar scale to those of Nazi Germany in the 1940s. But although he was very unpopular at the end of his reign, they now prefer to ignore or whitewash his behaviour, attacking those who dare to criticise him. At least the Germans didn't try to do the same with Hitler.
Probably they prefer to be seen as slightly boring people who make chocolates rather than a race once responsible for enslaving, torturing, mutilating or murdering tens of millions of Africans for reasons of pure greed.
Leopold II. There's your famous Belgian.
"the ad reinforced a negative and outdated cultural stereotype of German people".
So it would have been alright if it were done many years ago when they were tyrannical?
Can't libel a generic group.
You can under laws against speech intended to induce hateful violence. Why do they call old unfounded accusations about Jewish people "blood libels" now?
Note that group != organisation in this context.
A country is an organization. It has a board of directors (the legislature), a management (the government), an application process (be born on the soil or naturalized), and a process for promotion to management (elections).
If you think Germans are a pain, wait until you share a ski resort with a group of East-Europeans. Seriously, ask anybody who's been to Austria.
This kind of story is a bit boring without a link to the video in question...
"Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master."