Ad description
A website for a car import company, www.japcarsouth.co.uk, seen on 26 May 2026. The website included a logo of a stylised sun, similar in style to the Japanese “Rising Sun” flag, with the text “JAP CAR SOUTH LTD” superimposed over it.
Issue
The complainant, who understood the term “Jap” to be a racial slur, challenged whether the ad was harmful and offensive.
Response
Jap Car South Ltd t/a Jap Car South offered their apologies to any members of the public who had been offended by the use of the word “Jap” in their business name. They said they had traded since 2020, dealing directly with the Japanese market when purchasing vehicles. They said they had not previously received any feedback, in Japan or the UK, that their company name was offensive, or could cause offence.
They said the word “Jap” had been used as a shortened form of “Japan” or “Japanese”. They thought their customers would understand the word to have been used in that context. They had chosen the name because they sold Japanese imported cars, and were based in the south of England. They said they had not intended to cause offence, and did not wish to do so in future.
Assessment
Upheld
The CAP Code required marketers to ensure that ads did not contain anything that was likely to cause serious or widespread offence, with particular care to be taken to avoid causing offence on the grounds of various characteristics, including race.
The ASA understood that Jap Car South had used the word “Jap” as an abbreviation of “Japan” or “Japanese”, and had not intended to cause offence. We also acknowledged their comments that they had traded since 2020 and had not previously received feedback that the name was offensive. However, we assessed the likely effect of the ad on consumers, rather than the advertiser’s intention, and the fact that the company had not previously received such feedback was not determinative of the likely effect on consumers.
We understood that the word “Jap” became particularly associated with anti-Japanese sentiment during and after the Second World War. We further understood that it had a history of use as a derogatory term for Japanese people and people of Japanese heritage, and was widely recognised as a racial slur. Because of those associations, we considered that its use in a marketing communication was likely to cause serious offence on the grounds of race.
The website logo featured the text “Jap Car South” superimposed over an image of a stylised sun, similar in style to the Japanese “Rising Sun” flag. We considered that, when used alongside the term “Jap”, the image’s clear association with Japan reinforced the derogatory reference to Japanese identity and added to the offensive impact of the ad. We also understood that while the image was legitimately used in various facets of public life in Japan, some consumers were likely to associate it with the now-defunct Imperial Japanese Army, and Japanese military aggression during the Second World War. In the context of its use alongside the term “Jap”, we considered that association was likely to further exacerbate the offence caused by the wording.
Taking those factors together, we concluded that the ad was likely to cause serious offence on the grounds of race.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 4.1 (Harm and offence).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Jap Car South Ltd t/a Jap Car South to avoid causing serious offence on the grounds of race in future marketing communications.
