MultiChoice off the hook over ‘racially sensitive’ ad
The Advertising Regulatory Board said MultiChoice did nothing wrong in its advert promoting its streaming service, DStv Stream.
This after it received a complaint about an advert that portrayed a black man as irresponsible after leaving his work to stream a football match.
In the advert, an older white woman, portrayed as a responsible boss who is concerned, then searches for the irresponsible black employee.
After calling his name, Thulani, the advert ends with DStv announcing its streaming service, notes News24.
‘In considering whether the advertisement is offensive, the directorate must consider the commercial through the eyes of a hypothetically reasonable viewer who is not overly sensitive or hypercritical,’ the board's statement read.
It said ‘there is nothing in the advertisement that implies that such behaviour is only prevalent among young black men’.
‘There is nothing in the advertisement that suggests that the young man deserted his work simply because he is black or that black people, in general, abandon their responsibilities and other races do not. The directorate is also not convinced that the older female character is the “boss”. She seems to be a concerned colleague who is looking for him, more worried than angry,’ it noted.
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