Authority decides that Virgin Trains commercial is not racist to Native Americans

by Carmen Van Kerckhove

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which is sort of like the U.K.’s version of the FCC but specifically for ads, has ruled that the commercial below is not racist. From The Manchester Evening News:

the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has decided the commercial was a tongue in cheek pastiche of Hollywood cowboys and Indians films and not a slur on Native Americans. It said the ad was unlikely to cause serious offence.

Hmmm… I wonder how many Native Americans are in the ASA?

Our friend Rob from Newspaper Rock is not amused though, and nominated the commercial for his Stereotype of the Month award:

In the ad, stereotypical savages on horseback attack a train but – silly savages! – they don’t realise it’s not the old-fashioned kind they can leap onto from the saddle. They slide down the metal sides of the train and fall off! Ho ho ho! Toward the end, an Indian wordlessly demands through the window glass a book that a white traveller is reading. The traveller refuses and the Indian menacingly raises his tomahawk to smash the glass but – phew! – the nasty savage is wiped off the side of the train by the front apron of a tunnel. Oh, my aching sides.

Oh Rob, lighten up! A committee of white men has decided for you that it’s not racist. So just listen to them — they know what’s best for all Native Americans.

I certainly hope that one day you will be able to grasp Virgin’s humor.

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