ASA Adjudication on R Twining & Company Ltd

Ad

Two TV ads, for Twinings teas.

a. The first ad featured Stephen Fry in a tea shop working behind the counter with a young black man. Speaking to three white women sitting at the counter, Fry said "So ladies, permit me to introduce you to another lady, Lady Grey, a unique Twinings blend ...". The women, in turn, interrupted him saying "pale gold", "bursting with citrus flavours", "fresh and uplifting, maybe served black, with a little milk ...", "... or a slice of lemon". Fry said "Well, you are well informed aren't you?". One of the women said "Tyrone's been filling us in". The women laughed and looked at the young black man, who dropped a tin of tea to the floor. Fry looked at Tyrone and said "Oh has he? Has he indeed?". Text stated "Try something different. Try Twinings".

b. The second ad showed the tea shop and featured the same young black man writing on a blackboard, which read "EARL GREY PUTS THE ZING IN YOUR DING-A-LING". Stephen Fry said " 'Puts the zing in your ding-a-ling'? Tyrone, we're trying to introduce people to the refined taste of Twinings' tea, not flog them a bottle of moonshine". Tyrone said "You tell me that Earl Grey got that zing thing". Fry said "That 'zing thing', as you so eloquently put it, is delicately blended aromatic tea. It's refreshing, with a hint of citrus flavours. Feel it, deep down". Tyrone replied "In your ding-a-ling?". Fry responded "No Tyrone. Not in your ding-a-ling". Tyrone said "You feel it brother. You feel it". Text stated "Try something different. Try Twinings".

Issue

A viewer believed the ads were both offensive and harmful because she believed they played on a negative racial stereotype of a black man as sexually promiscuous and, in ad (a), there to provide sexual services for white women.

BCAP TV Code

Response

Advertising agency Lowe, on behalf of Twinings, said the ads had been broadcast a number of times since October 2006 and this was the first complaint they had received via the ASA.  They believed they would have received more complaints if viewers generally had found the ad racist.  They said racism had not been mentioned either as a response or concern in the consumer research they carried out on ad (b).

Lowe said the character of Tyrone was picked as an opposite to Stephen Fry to create humour between the two characters.  They believed Tyrone, a cool, young black man from America, was the perfect foil to Fry, an Englishman in his early 50s, white, fairly traditional and old fashioned.  They said Tyrone was not created out of a stereotype but was intended to be a way of contemporising the brand and making tea cool; they believed that race was not central or relevant to the ads because the premise was young versus old, cool versus un-cool.  They asserted that Tyrone was shown as a strong, confident character who held his own in the banter between the two characters and was shown to be cooler in dress, language, taste in music and mannerisms.  They believed the two characters were shown as friends, neither offended nor embarrassed by comments made in a game of one-upmanship they both played, whether it was Tyrone trying to catch Fry out on his knowledge of rap music or Fry teasing him, as a young man, in front of some older women.  They said in ad (a) Tyrone was caught out, but as a good looking young man with whom the women were flirting; they said his race was irrelevant.  

Clearcast said at no point in the clearance process did they imagine that the ad would cause any racial offence.  They believed that Tyrone was a cool, witty foil to Stephen Fry and they did not consider him to be a negative stereotype of a black man.  They said the women were flirty with him but they believed it to be light hearted banter between a waiter and his customers and the ad did not suggest that he was there to provide sexual services for them.  They believed the innuendo was light and similar in style to a Carry On film.  They believed the innuendo in ad (a) was so mild that the ad needed no timing restriction, but they considered the reference to "ding a ling" in ad (b) was more blatant innuendo and therefore gave that ad an "ex-kids" restriction, which meant it should not be shown in or around programmes made for or specifically targeted at children.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA noted the innuendo in the ads but considered it was mild and, with the timing restriction on ad (b), was unlikely to cause widespread offence.  Although we acknowledged the innuendo was mildly sexual, we did not consider that it was reliant on the young mans ethnic origins or a racial stereotype.   We noted the character of Tyrone was shown as an attractive, confident young man and, in ad (a), clearly enjoying the attentions of, and flirting with, the women.  We did not consider that his or the womens enjoyment of the situation implied that his character was there simply to provide sexual services for white women, but rather that he was a young man enjoying the confidence boosting attentions of a group of women.   

We noted, in ad (b), Tyrone was shown in friendly banter with Stephen Fry who, as an older and more experienced man, was bemused by Tyrones reference to "ding-a-ling".  We considered that Tyrone was simply making a mild sexual reference in front of a friend and, as with ad (a), the issue of race was not a factor.   

We considered that Tyrone was shown as a positive character and, because neither ad was reliant on race for its humour, viewers generally were unlikely to believe the ads implied that black men were promiscuous or there to provide sexual services for white women.  We concluded that the ads were not harmful or likely to cause offence to most viewers.

We investigated the ads under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 6.1 (Offence) and 6.6 (Harmful or negative stereotypes) but did not find them in breach.  

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)