AFL star’s Indian jockey ad banned by ASB as racist depiction of British Colonial rule
Former AFL star Jonathan Brown’s relationship with his Indian jockey in an ad for Ubet has been ruled discriminatory by the Ad Standards Board.
The ad drew complaints from those who felt it was based on portrayals of 19th Century British colonial rule during which Indians were used as slaves and servants. SBS current affairs show The Feed described the resemblance to scenes from The British Raj as “uncanny”.
The online ad features the former AFL premiership player in a country house, labelled ‘Brownton Abbey’. In the ad, he calls for the Melbourne Cup to be a national holiday while the unnamed jockey works as his manservant, serving tea and acting as a a prop to an archery target.
Don’t be alarmed people – romanticising the subjugation of an entire subcontinent isn’t actually cool. The Monkeys yet again demonstrating why the status quo need to be reminded they are in no position to teach the general population how diversity works. They don’t get it and their subversive racism is starting to crack the surface.
Might be worth a quick call to the Monkeys Tim. Not sure this is their work.
Thanks for your comment, Howdog. While Ubet’s creative agency of record is The Monkeys, a spokesperson from the agency confirmed the agency did not work on this campaign.
Sure.
What a bloody joke! Ok, let’s never use anyone in an advertisement who’s not white lest we offend some long gone historical matter. Black – no it’s offensive and insensitive to former slaves, Asian – Yellow Peril insults, Aboriginal – nup, stolen generation. Seriously PC has to end!
Do you work for Leo Burnett?
Slavery was endemic in India prior to British rule, but it was progressively eliminated as British influence spread. The British authorities banned slavery in Madras in 1688, and they tried to ban enslavement in Bengal in 1774. The East India Company banned slavery in areas it controlled in 1789.
Despite his diminutive size the jockey in the ad appears to have more in common with Lothar, the “giant Nubian slave” of the original Mandrake the Magician, than with anyone from British India.