Wednesday, September 4, 2013

South African ad puts a white guy in blackface, with predictable results

imeslive.co.za

It was supposed to be a funny concept about air quotes and quality control. But when they put the white guy in blackface for the "African dictator" stereotype, it pretty much guaranteed a bad reaction in post-Apartheid South Africa.



According to Times Live, it only took two complaints of racism to get the South African Advertising Standards Authority to order the Cape Town Fish Market to pull the ad. The ruling stated, "To achieve the desired result of showing a corrupt official, there was no need for the man to be made out to be black."

The Cape Town Fish Market's general manager, Davin Berrill, says the restaurant "never intended to offend anybody," which is a pretty standard non-apology these days.

There is no mention of whether anyone objected to the man dressing as a woman prostitute.

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