[DCV] Fw: ASA Ruling on Ginger Pop Ltd

Bob&Jane birkby370 at btinternet.com
Tue Sep 27 02:46:22 BST 2016


FYI
regards
Jane

From: Chris Smith 
Sent: Monday, September 26, 2016 10:34 AM
To: birkby370 at btinternet.com 
Cc: 'Hayden Phillips' (indrev at asbof.co.uk) ; Miles Lockwood 
Subject: FW: ASA Ruling on Ginger Pop Ltd

Dear Mrs Birkby, 

Thank you for your recent email, sent through to me at Pembroke College in Cambridge.  The decision on this particular case was taken in fact by the entire ASA Council, a body of men and women drawn from a wide variety of backgrounds; and I do know that they considered everything very carefully in coming to their conclusion on the case.  It is however always possible for either the advertiser or the complainants to seek an independent review of a particular decision, if they believe there has been a flaw in process or insufficient notice was taken of the available information and evidence.  It will of course be up to the advertisers to decide if they wish to pursue this course.  

I’m grateful to you for writing.  

Yours sincerely,   Chris Smith  

 

Lord Smith of Finsbury

Chairman

 

Advertising Standards Authority

Mid City Place, 71 High Holborn

London WC1V 6QT

Telephone 020 7492 2222

www.asa.org.uk

 

Follow us on twitter: @ASA_UK

 

Legal, decent, honest and truthful

 

 

From: Bob&Jane [mailto:birkby370 at btinternet.com] 
Sent: 22 September 2016 01:54
To: Master; ASA Independent Review
Subject: ASA Ruling on Ginger Pop Ltd

 

Dear Lord Smith and Sir Phillip Hayden,

I am absolutely appalled at the decision to uphold the complaint against Ginger Pop on the subject of a Golliwog, by only two ignorant people out of the whole population of this Country.

 

With politicians like yourselves, who needs enemies?

 

A part of our heritage and culture, is being suppressed yet again by the ASA’s flawed judgement, following only two ignorant complaints. It cannot be racist to complain about a doll that originated in Egypt, which was featured in Enid Blyton’s books.

 

“The origin of the Golliwog doll has it’s origins in Egypt.

 

Workers On Government (WOGS) service, supplying troops and serving archeologists in Egypt, came across the Ghulwog doll which helped keep evil spirits away, and would be made by WOGS from scraps of black cloth, and would be carried along as charms against evil.

 

Troops and Crusaders thought these a good idea, and brought their Ghulwog dolls or Golliwog dolls back with them, the name evolving over the years from Ghulwog to Golliwog, and they are very popular in other countries, which are not so hamstrung with stupid political correctness.”

 

I demand that you review this decision, and ditch the politically correct attitude, as you are enabling the professionally offended in their mission to destroy this country, it’s heritage and history.

 

yours disgustedly

Mrs Jane Birkby

birkby370 at btinternet.com 

 

https://www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications/2016/9/Ginger-Pop-Ltd/SHP_ADJ_345779.aspx#.V-MpafArJaR

ASA Ruling on Ginger Pop Ltd

Ginger Pop Ltd
1 Anncott Close
Lytchett Matravers
Poole
Dorset
BH16 6BN
Date:
21 September 2016 

Media:
Regional press 

Sector:
Retail 
Number of complaints:
2 

Complaint Ref:
A16-345779 
Ad
A press ad for the Ginger Pop Shop seen in the Purbeck Gazette in June 2016 included text which stated “Visit our shop and get the tea-towel!” and featured an illustration of a ‘golly’ character holding a pint of ginger beer with text underneath stating “ENGLISH FREEDOM”.

Issue
Two complainants, who believed the depiction of the ‘golly’ character was racist, objected that the ad was offensive.

CAP Code (Edition 12)
4.1

Response
Ginger Pop Ltd said they did not accept that the golliwog represented negative racial stereotypes. They provided information about the history of the golliwog character, including his origins in a children’s book in the late nineteenth century. They provided a copy of that book and a sequel, with quotes about his origin from the author. They also provided a modern edition of a Noddy Book and ‘The Golly’, a collectors’ handbook, which showed the variety of golly memorabilia available. They also provided a letter from a supporter and a comments book from their shop, which they said showed that the vast majority of passers-by were positive about the fact they sold golliwogs in their shop. They referred to two online videos they had uploaded about golliwogs. They believed the character as depicted in the original books and on Robertson’s marmalade badges was heroic and was an aspirational role model. They acknowledged the character had become stereotyped over time which they said had led some to believe the character was negative. They also said that he was not intended to be seen as a human character but as a magical being, and that many people of all backgrounds had golly toys as children. They supplied a tea-towel which they had produced to celebrate 120 years of golliwogs, which included many adjectives to describe the character and which they were said were far removed from the minstrel doll stereotype.

The Purbeck Gazette said they had checked the legality of the ad and image prior to running it and had been advised that it was within the law. They had not directly received any complaints about the ad. However, they did not intend to run similar ads until the ASA investigation was resolved and did not wish to risk offending their readership.

Assessment
Upheld

The ASA understood that there had been some local controversy around the tea-towel produced by Ginger Pop for display and sale in their shop, and that the ad was a reference to that. However, we did not consider that all readers would be aware of that background, or that such awareness would necessarily impact on their reaction to the ad.

The Code required marketers to ensure that ads did not contain anything that was likely to cause serious or widespread offence, and particular care must be taken to avoid causing offence on various grounds, including race. We noted that the ad featured an image which was recognisably a golly character. We considered that many people were likely to view the character as representing negative racial stereotypes, and its prominent inclusion in a press ad was likely to cause serious or widespread offence. We also considered that the inclusion of the words “ENGLISH FREEDOM” in the ad was likely to contribute to that offence, because in combination with the image it could be read as a negative reference to immigration or race. We therefore concluded that the ad was likely to cause serious or widespread offence.

The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 4.1 (Harm and offence).

Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained of.



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