Polish jokes still not OK in advertising If you aired a TV commercial in Germany that portrayed Polish people as thieving scoundrels, wouldn’t you expect some sort of backlash? German retailer Mediamarkt has done just that, and is now backtracking. In a recent ad, a Mediamarkt salesman insists that “Poles are decent people,” before being set upon by a bunch of Polish customers, who steal his trousers. Not exactly subtle stuff. The ad plays off a common stereotype in Germany that Polish people will steal anything they can get their hands on. The spot has been pulled off the air, and Mediamarkt has apologized “to all those who were insulted or even hurt by this.” —Posted by Tim Nudd

March 30, 2006 | Permalink

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I find the uproar fascinating because it twists our polarities around, making conservatives champion “free expression,” at least in a commercial medium, and liberals backing (nervously) into censorship…all of which points to our sluggish, incremental evolution as conscious beings. Irreverence is the hallmark of the fully human human. The great sages of Cosmic Irreverence (Charlie Chaplin, George Carlin, Monty Python, and Douglas Adams) taught self-ridicule, not self-abnegation, for only when you can laugh at yourself can you really laugh at someone else. Volkswagen also uses “cheeky” ads and stereotypes (about “itself”, i.e. Germans) with some success, but how far are they willing to go before some creative director has to quote John Cleese: “It was just a bit of fun you silly bitch…?” There’s an ad-length look at the problem, from the German “side” here:http://youtube.com/watch?v=LCEPO3-OkDo I would suggest that if the polish thieves concept had been the subject of a similar, wholly satirical piece, devoid of the commercial message, its irreverence would have made the wounded sensibilities irrelevant. And that’s the goal…

Posted by: olleaale | Mar 30, 2006 2:09:15 PM

Denigrating an entire ethnic group has nothing to do with being irreverant. Because free societies recognize that words and images can harm, and worse, incite, there is a need for restraint even in so-called artisitic expression. Calling that censorship is pure sophistry. Freedom of speech does not protect your "right" to yell "Fire!" in a crowded movie theater. Nor does it protect your "right" to demean and degrade for public consumption. As for art, "Triumph of the Will" is considered a masterpiece, but there's a reason it's unlawful to show it in Germany. It glorified and legitimized a murderous regime in the minds of the mass citizenry. The ad portraying Poles as thieves should never have aired.

Posted by: Get Some Sense | Mar 30, 2006 7:46:26 PM

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