A Transport for London (TfL) advert which showed a black man harassing a white woman on a bus has been banned over “negative racial stereotypes”.
The clip, which showed a black male and his white friend verbally harassing a young girl, was pulled after a complaint from just one viewer.
The complaint said the ad was irresponsible, harmful, and offensive due to how it portrayed black teenage boys.
TfL, however, said it was trying to reflect “London’s diverse population”.
It was released as part of TfL’s “Act Like a Friend” campaign, which encourages people to intervene safely if they witness sexual harassment or “hate crime” while on the network.
The ad was one of three on social media cut down from the two minute long “Act Like a Friend” film.
The other two segments featured a white man being racist to a black woman, and a white man calling another white man gay.
The London transport network told the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that both characters in the banned ad intimidated the victim and displayed “offensive behaviour”.
TfL also said a Facebook user would be served any combination of the ads three times and estimated the odds of seeing just the “offensive” segment at around two per cent.
The ad featured a black teenager and a white friend harassing a white girl on a bus
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TRANSPORT FOR LONDON
A “casting diversity tracker” was also used by the TfL to guarantee that London’s population was represented.
The ASA said it was possible to see the banned advert in isolation.
ASA said: “We understood there was a negative racial stereotype based on the association between black males, including teenagers, and threatening behaviour. We assessed whether the advert reinforced that stereotype.”
The ASA added that while the white man did appear in the ad, he was not seen “jointly intimidating the victim” and that the only aggressor in the advert was the black teenager.
The Advertising Standards Authority said the ad showed a ‘negative racial stereotype’ between black men and threatening behaviour
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TRANSPORT FOR LONDON
It added: “Although we understood that TfL had intended to present a range of diversity and scenarios across their campaign, we considered the ad, when seen in isolation, had the effect of perpetuating a negative racial stereotype about black men as perpetrators of threatening behaviour.
“On that basis, we concluded that the ad featured a harmful stereotype, was irresponsible and likely to cause serious offence.”
TfL first launched the ads in October of last year for National Hate Crime Awareness Week.
The full “Act Like a Friend” film was shown in cinemas and on ITVX as TfL focused on tackling sexual offences, harassment, and violence against women and girls.
Transport for London said both characters intimidated the victim
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TRANSPORT FOR LONDON
When the campaign was first launched, TfL said the three segments were based on “three true stories of Londoners who have witnessed another passenger being targeted, and who have helped defuse the incident by engaging the targeted person in a conversation”.
A TfL spokesman said: “Our aim is to ensure that our advertising reflects London’s diverse population and does not perpetuate any stereotypes, just as we ensure that our services are as fair, accessible and inclusive as possible.
“We’re sorry that this social media advert – a shortened version of the full two-minute advert that includes a diverse range of ethnicities – falls below our usual high standards when viewed in isolation.
“While very few people will have seen this shortened advert in isolation, we are committed to upholding the ASA’s standards for all of our campaigns and are no longer using this shortened advert in our ongoing campaign to encourage people to support other passengers targeted by hate crime, sexual offences and harassment on our transport network.”