Booo!
Don't worry ASA, I'm sure the Germans would have found it funny, they have a sense of humour you know...
Oh wait....
ASA bans tyrannical German boss ad
The Advertising Standards Authority has banned a Reed Online radio ad featuring a shouty German boss because it "reinforced a negative and outdated cultural stereotype of German people as overpowering and tyrannical". The offending advert "featured a man speaking to his boss, who responded angrily and loudly in German". The …
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Wednesday 20th January 2010 11:06 GMT Richard 39
I've had enough of this...
I know Britain has an image of being a bunch of complainers but this is the last straw.
Some body put me on the desk that deals with complaints and me and my friend 2x4 will soon sort out these pricks
I f'king hate these losers that have nothing better to do than complain about other people possibly being insulted
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Thursday 21st January 2010 10:52 GMT Anonymous Coward
Yeah right!
My German wife read another article by some priest about how we should all (including the Germans) be encouraged to laugh at Nazis, but my wife was annoyed by this as she has been by seemingly endless "non-offensive" remarks and attitudes. She used to work as a senior nurse in a children's and was called Heidi or Helga on numerous occassions. When I told her about the popular belief that holidaying Germans raced out every morning to reserve sun loungers with towels she couldn't believe it and had wanted to protest by taking towels to the local mall and "reserving" benches. These might seem like a few mild points, but it is just the tip of the iceberg. The German people that I know are not humourless authoritarians (they could teach us a few things about having a good fun-filled life), and I think that the attitude that "they should get a sense of humour" reflects badly upon us as a nation.
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Wednesday 20th January 2010 11:36 GMT Richard 39
@ Sarah
I HAVE considered forgetting about it and continuing to live my life... However -
the immense feeling of satisfaction from lamping these losers is too much to resist and lets face it unless we remove their ability to complain (speech, fingers, toes in some cases) then these ass twitchers will keep coming back time and time again
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Wednesday 20th January 2010 11:30 GMT Iggle Piggle
I did once but I think I got away with it
What next someone a thick as two short planks with an Irish accent? A tight fisted Scott perhaps! Someone with a distinctly Nigerian accent that is constantly trying to persuade you that they have several million quid in the bank with your name on it. A welsh bloke, his wellies, and a distinctly woolly girlfriend. How about a boozed up, bright red, English bloke abroad shouting at the locals. Wait, no, a yank solving all his problems by dropping bombs on them. Or a malnourished bloke yelling "I kill you" with what could easily pass for a turban (even though that is not actually his religion). Wait, wait, we could have a French bloke that simply knows everything he says is worth listening too or an Italian that is constantly trying to chat up your girlfriend (the Welsh bloke would be safe of course). Naturally I'm forgetting the classic IT worker with zero social skills and the Banker who would sell his own mother's house just to make a few quid towards the next Ferrari. The journalist sitting behind his desk making up gossip about the latest celebrity because all that leg work to get to the truth is so boring.
Stereotypes, you've got to love em.
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Wednesday 20th January 2010 11:37 GMT fch
Can't help ...
... but wonder, as a German, whether the manager at ASA responsible for that takedown actually was a compatriot ?
Actually, german discussion style is very loud. Got told by a US mgr. once that she thought when she witnessed a talk between me and another german colleague that we'd start fistfighting any moment. She was shocked to be told we'd been in perfect agreement all the time and only sorted out technical details.
Better any day than the do-not-talk-never-argue-never-criticize-always-keep-face approach that seems so popular in the UK.
Where would one complain that taking down this ad discriminates against Germans because it deprives us from some well-deserved media presence ?
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Wednesday 20th January 2010 13:17 GMT Anonymous Coward
Goodness
Since when do brits never argue? Even an innocuous emergency tech meeting yesterday regarding some security issues for a pilot system we're installing in a mission-critical location got a bit deafening- with two very English types dominating the discussion and agreeing.. I got quite the headache.. :)
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Wednesday 20th January 2010 19:06 GMT Thorsten
Nope, not offended
well, actually, I am offended by Reed not using a German native speaker for the advert. The guy sounds like a Belgian who tries to speak German. Can't be that hard to find a German expat in the UK. All of which should have the necessary sense of humour, since without you wouldn't cope with the third-world infrastructure.
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Wednesday 20th January 2010 13:13 GMT Syd
Ever so slightly off-topic
Whenever I think of The Germans, I always have this feeling of great sadness - knowing that I will never, ever (even if I live to be 100) laugh so much again, as I did when I first heard the line 'Yes you did - you invaded Poland.'
Off topic, I know, but... you started it!!!
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Wednesday 20th January 2010 13:39 GMT Bassey
Not offensive
Being part German I didn't find it in the least bit offensive - but it also wasn't the least bit funny. That was probably their down-fall. If you're going to do something like that which you knows runs the risk of attracting complaints from the BPCS (British Professional Complainers Society) you need to ensure that it is funny. On the other hand, they've just generated approx 3.5Million times more publicity for their client than the original airing of the ad ever could have - so well done to them.
Incidentally, did anyone find it a little sad that, on a day when hundreds of thousands are still dieing in Haiti, 8 people were shot dead in a gun rampage in Virginia and the most important president the US has seen in 50 years began to lose his grip, this story was featured 2nd on the BBC's flagship morning news program?
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Wednesday 20th January 2010 14:21 GMT Anonymous Coward
As a German...
...offended? Nah. Tired of the British obsession of relating anything remotely German to WW1+2/Lederhosen/beer/command-style/...? Somewhat. (and yes, we are much more direct in discussions than the average touchy-feeling-don't-offend-anybody Brit...)
Not that we're much better in stereotyping (see above or http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/02/schotten_preise/ ) but I do sometimes get the feeling that a non-insignificant part of the British population doesn't/can't distinguish between humorous stereotypes and facts.
What DOES offend me though, is that they couldn't even be bothered to employ a proper native speaker to do the ad and instead hired some obviously British screamer with a massive accent!
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Friday 22nd January 2010 15:59 GMT lukewarmdog
To the second AC
Germans reserving benches with towels isn't a humorous anecdote but hard fact. Last time we went to Tunisia one of the German familes reserved a whole section of loungers at some ungodly hour, we'd finish breakfast at 8 ish and head for the pool and they'd turn up at 11 ish.
Surely the whole point of stereotypes is to produce a recognisable character. It could just as easily have been a loud Lanchasire or Yorkshire boss. Or a Scot or Irish person. A cockney wouldn't have worked. Is there a list of what are allowed in what context?
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Biting the hand that feeds IT
