ASA Adjudication on Virgin Rail Group Ltd

Ad

A TV ad for Virgin Trains showed a white man sitting in a first class train carriage, writing in a notebook; the train was 'attacked' by a group of Native Americans on horse back. The 'attack' on the train failed. At the end of the ad, one Native American was shown serving drinks on the train. Text at the end of the ad stated "MAN WHO GO ON BIG TRAIN HAVE BIG IDEA".

Issue

The complainants, some of whom were Native Americans, found the ad offensive because they said it was racist and used an outdated cultural stereotype of Native American people. Several complainants believed the ad trivialised Native American history and the treatment of Native American people.

BCAP TV Code

Response

Rainey Kelly, the advertising agency, responded on behalf of Virgin Rail.  They said it was not their intention to cause offence. They explained that the ad was intended to be a humorous and affectionate homage to the 'Cowboy and Indian' film genre, which was in keeping with Virgin Rails theme of making ads in the style of classic films.

Rainey Kelly said the ad intended to depict that a valuable idea could be conceived while working on a train.  The ad also depicted, in a fantastical way, that the idea might be so good that someone could try to steal it.  They argued that many Western films contained scenes where trains were held up or attacked.

Rainey Kelly stated they employed an independent market research agency to obtain consumers views on the ad.  They claimed that only 2% of the respondents (or six out of 300) thought the ad was racist and that most respondents saw it as intended: a tongue-in-cheek, humorous take on the classic Western genre of film.

The Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre (BACC) said they worked very closely with Rainey Kelly throughout the pre-clearance stage to ensure the ad would not offend Native Americans.

Although the BACC believed the ad used an outmoded view of 'Indians, they argued that viewers would realise that the ad was a spoof of the Western genre, not a comment on contemporary Native Americans.  The BACC stated that the type face used for the text "MAN WHO GO ON BIG TRAIN HAVE BIG IDEA" was stylised to resemble the type face in classic 'Wanted' posters often seen in Westerns.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA acknowledged that Rainey Kelly had taken care to consult some consumers for their opinion about the ad. We noted the ad was in keeping with Virgin Rails recent campaigns in the style of classic films and considered that, because it was set in a fictional and imitative context, the ad was likely to be viewed as a parody of Western films, not as a comment on Native American history or contemporary Native Americans.  We concluded that, although some viewers might find the ad in poor taste, it was unlikely to be seen as racist or as trivialising Native Americans and their history and was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence.

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

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)