Tombola Bingo has fallen foul of the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) after they received complaints regarding one of Tombola Bingo’s new television advertisements, which has led to the online bingo company’s advert being banned from being shown in its current form. The Tombola Bingo advert featured an older white man dressed in a black suit complete with bow tie sat on a beach in front of a fire next to a black man who is dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and cream trousers.
The Tombola Bingo ad featured a black man playing a ukulele and repeats everything that the older white man says back in song even the part when he says “thank you Tito”, which the ASA has commented on as making the black man look less intelligent than the white man, the ASA thought that this would cause widespread offence as it portrays a negative racial stereotype.
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The ASA then went on to say that although the Tombola Bingo advert was only supposed to be portrayed as humorous the “relationship between the two characters was defined as the power of a white man over the black man.”
The ASA also commented that the black man was always looking for reassurance from the white man which suggested that he lacked the intellect or confidence to be able to behave any other way.
The ASA also said “We considered that the ad could be interpreted as humiliating, stigmatising or undermining the standing of the black character and was therefore likely to cause serious offence.”
Tombola Bingo did however follow all the proper procedures required when releasing a new advertisement and this advert was approved by Clearcast who approve all television adverts before they are broadcast. They have made a comment saying that it did not cross their mind that it could be perceived as presenting a negative stereotype.
Tombola Bingo has also been warned by the ASA to be careful with any future television advertisements they record.
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