Bingo website ad banned for presenting negative racial stereotype

The advertising watchdog has banned a TV commercial for a gambling website for portraying black people as less intelligent than white people and presenting a negative racial stereotype.

Bingo website Tombola's TV ad featured an older white man in a tuxedo and a black man in a casual Hawaiian shirt playing a ukelele.

The black man repeated everything the white man said, prompting two complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority that the commercial was likely to cause serious or widespread offence because it presented a negative racial stereotype.

In its ruling today the ASA banned the ad campaign, by ad agency Euro RSCG, and warned Tombola to take care not to present negative racial stereotypes in future.

The regulator said that, while the ad was humorous, the "relationship between the two characters was defined as the power of a white man over the black man".

The ASA added that the black man was portrayed as "less intelligent" because he repeated everything that was said – even when the white man said "Thank you Tito."

"We noted that he seemed to look to the white man for reassurance or instruction suggesting that he lacked the confidence or intellect to behave otherwise," said the ASA. "We considered that the ad could be interpreted as humiliating, stigmatising or undermining the standing of the black character and was therefore likely to cause serious offence."

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