FORUM
Stereotypes in advertising
Posted by Lena, 28/01/2010
The British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a radio ad because it featured an angry boss yelling at his employees – in German.
Read more on http://news.bbc.co.uk
Of course we all know that the image of the aggressive German tyrant is a stereotype, and certainly not true.
But what do you think about advertisements like this:
Are they harmless jokes? Is the use of stereotypes just a necessary evil for advertisers to get their point across? Or do you think ads like this can be potentially dangerous? Can they cause real damage to intercultural understanding by promoting stereotypes?
Vorurteile in der Werbung
Das britische Amt für Werbestandards hat einen Radiowerbespot verboten, in dem ein wütender Chef seine Angestellten anschreit – und zwar auf deutsch.
Lest mehr auf http://news.bbc.co.uk
Selbstverständlich wissen wir alle, dass es sich hier um ein Vorurteil handelt, und die Darstellung im Werbespot nicht der Wahrheit entspricht.
Aber was denkt ihr über solche Werbekampagnen: Sind sie nur harmlose Unterhaltung? Muss Werbung für 30-sekündige Spots notgedrungen auf Vorurteile zurückgreifen? Oder glaubt ihr, dass solche Werbespots durch die Verbreitung von längst ausgedienten Vorurteilen der interkulturellen Verständigung schaden können?
Last modified by Bethany, 28/01/2010
Comment by Chaosgirl, 24/02/2010
Ihr habt ne geile Seite. Voll cool!!!
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Comment by Liz, 09/02/2010
I think it´s funny, because my boss is defenetly the same like this, but the german spots are make jokes about the british poeple too! like after eight. they show ähm straight!?
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Comment by swillard8, 01/02/2010
swillard8
I agree with you Ellena, I think it's such a common thing nowadays in our multicultural society. Whether it's an "Englishman, Irishman and Scotsman" joke or a stereotypical advert like this I think people are so used to it they can shrug it off.
As long as it doesn't cross the line!
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Comment by swillard8, 29/01/2010
swillard8
I think the stereotype of an aggressive German has gone too far. I bet the person who scripted that Ad has never been to Germany and doesn't know how untrue the stereotype is!
But you will find stereotypes in every advert; "That's why mums go to iceland", "Yorkie, not for women" I can't think of anymore at the moment, but it is everywhere.
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Comment by Ellena, 28/01/2010
I do think that jokes can harm intercultural understanding. Some people, who do not know better, may think jokes like this are true, or they may use them to make fun of Germans they meet. But this particular joke is not that harmful, I think even the Germans can laugh about the typical German tyrant. One should be carful when joking about different cultures, but a little fun here and there shouldn't be harmful.
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