The Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) has banned a Cadbury Picnic ad for perpetuating a negative stereotype of a person with an Indian background.
The ‘Obey your Mouth’ television ad from Mondelez features a man reading out flight departure details into a microphone.
The man’s lips then start moving erratically as he begins to speak faster, announcing that all flights are leaving right now. The man then takes a bite out of bar of a picnic bar and his voice returns to normal speed.
A complaint submitted to the ASB said the advertisement exploits the “often used caricature of the ethnic stereotype; the stereotypical Indian accent with the cliché Indian caricature demeanour,” according to AdNews.
According to the complainant, on the rare occasion Indian people are represented on commercial Australian television, they are usually portrayed in a “stereotypical and offensive manner”.
Mondelez told the ASB it aimed not to insult, but to “bring to life in a joyful and light-hearted way the concept of our mouth craving things at a certain time”.
“It is part of a series of similar advertisements where every day Australians have their mouths ‘taken over’ by a craving for our products.
“The TVC is simply reflective of the diversity of Australia’s population and given the humorous tone of the advertisement, does not portray or depict material in a way which discriminates against or vilifies a person or section of the community on account of race or ethnicity.”
However the ASB upheld the complaints, ruling the depiction of the announcer as an Indian man with a strong accent highlights his inability to be understood.
"It is presenting him in a negative way and does perpetuate a stereotype that would generally be considered to be a negative stereotype of a person from a particular racial background,” the ABS said.
Mondelez said while it was disappointed, it would not return the ad to TV.
