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The UK’s advertising regulator has banned a Transport for London (TfL) advertisement for perpetuating negative stereotypes about black males. The ad was part of TfL’s “Act Like a Friend” campaign, which encouraged passengers to intervene safely if they witnessed sexual harassment or hate crimes while using public transport. However, one of the Facebook adverts attracted complaints due to its portrayal of a black teenage boy verbally harassing a white girl on a bus, with a white teenage boy sitting nearby, seemingly boxing her in.
Following a viewer complaint, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) reviewed the advert and determined that it was “irresponsible” and “likely to cause serious offence” by reinforcing harmful racial stereotypes. Though the white boy appeared in the scene, the ASA noted that the ad did not depict him as also intimidating the victim, meaning the black teenager was shown as the sole aggressor. As a result, TfL confirmed it would no longer use the shortened Facebook version of the advert.
The controversial clip was extracted from a longer two-minute film that featured three different social media videos. The other versions addressed hate crimes involving a white male against a black woman and a white male against another white male. TfL argued that most Facebook users would have encountered a mixture of all three adverts rather than just the one criticized. Still, the ASA maintained there was a significant chance some viewers saw the problematic advert in isolation, making the negative portrayal more impactful.
Concluding that the advert reinforced a damaging stereotype linking black males with threatening behaviour, the ASA banned its further use in that form and urged TfL to avoid similar harmful portrayals in future campaigns. TfL issued a statement emphasizing its commitment to representing London’s diversity accurately and inclusively and expressed regret that the shortened social media clip did not meet its usual standards, especially when viewed separately from the full advertisement. The comprehensive campaign, which included cinema screenings, TV broadcasts, and posters across the transport network, sought to highlight the importance of safe intervention against harassment and hate crime
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
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