du advert using British anthem was 'ill-judged'

Dubai: Britons are divided on whether a scrapped du advert that featured a man ordering fish and chips to the tune of their national anthem was offensive.

Telecommunications company du announced yesterday it was pulling off the radio advert after a Briton said it was "offensive".

The advert featured a man singing an order for fish and chips to the tune of 'God Save the Queen'.

David Gifford, a 34-year-old who works in publishing, said that while he thought no offence was meant by the advert, the content was ill-judged.

"People should be a bit more careful. It is wrong that people should be so heedless of the risk that they could offend the British," he said.

"It wasn't intended but they were reckless and thoughtless in doing it because it could cause offence to some people."

Another Briton, also in his 30s, said: "It didn't offend me in the slightest, although I am not a fervent patriot. I think there are other radio adverts that stereotype on the grounds of race that are more offensive than this one was."

Speaking before it was announced that the advert would be scrapped, Keith Sell, 44, art director for an advertising agency that was not involved in producing the commercial, described it as "a little bit disrespectful" and "a cheap shot".

'Who is the audience?'

"A lot of nations that I can think of would be up in arms if this was done to them, but it doesn't offend me because I think of myself as being more English than British and I think England should have its own anthem," he said.

Sell said that he had his doubts about the value of the commercial. "I would be interested to know what the creative brief for it was. I don't understand who the target market was," he said.

du said it might take time to remove the clip from radio schedules.

As well as being the national anthem of the United Kingdom, 'God Save the Queen' is one of two New Zealand national anthems.


Have your say
Have you heard of this ad? Did you find it offensive? How would you rate the quality and sensitivy of advertising in the country? Do you think there is a lot of racial stereotyping in the images displayed? Tell us at letter2editor@gulfnews.com or send your comments through the form below.

Even though I am an Indian, I found it strange when I heard the jingle. If the intention was to target the British customer, there are other 'very British' tunes that could have been used to bring out the same impact. Poor choice of tune.
Sandeep
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 14:49

I'm from the Uk and it's not offensive at all. I think the difference is that countries have no problem taking the mickey out of themselves, but when someone else does it, it can cause offence. I think the Brit bashing on this site has been a bit harsh.
Anthony
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 14:46

I haven't actually heard the ad but from the reports it just sounds like a bit of fun. I am patriotic towards my home country of England but I still have my own version of the national anthem and I'm sure there are a hundred other versions out there but I don't take it personally.
Fay
Ajman,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 13:40

And still they talk about freedom of expression and individuals' right to express. It's time that nations who thought of themselves as being huge and where sun never used to set must realise that the sun there sets before it goes up completely.
MN
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 13:39

Reading this article makes me wonder where the hell has the British sense of humour gone?
AIK
Frankfurt,Germany
Posted: August 06, 2007, 12:57

It never occurred to me that it was offensive. My only concern was "OK, I can order fish 'n' chips cheap on a du phone, but how much is it going to cost me to get them here hot and fast?" Now that would have made good advertising! Lighten up Brits, before it was an anthem it was just music.
Aysha
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 12:48

Thank God it's going off the air. It was a very bad ad in the first place. I didn't understand what message they were trying to convey to the public.
Ruben
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 12:13

I don't think the majority of Brits would be offended by it. As said before we have more important things to worry about. But it is true that in many countries, this would be seen as an offence to the personal or national pride and flags and effigies would be burning in the streets.
KJ
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 11:46

How over-sensitive of du to scrap this advert on the basis of one ill-humoured Brit's complaint. This is one of the best ads on the radio right now. I'm British and one of the only things we can be truly proud of is our self-effacing sense of humour - so have one, complainer! It's not like our national anthem is a particularly good one, after all. Do YOU know all the words?
Sarah
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 11:12

I loved the ad and wish I could hear it on continuous loop all day at work and home.
P
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 10:52

It's funny how us Brits love poking fun at other cultures, but when it comes to our own...A proud Britisher
Simone
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 10:46

The ad was just fine and entertaining, the Brit's enjoy taking offence when they want, otherwise their own people can wear boxers with the pattern of their own flag, if that is acceptable in their communities then what is a harmless ad?
Talha
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 10:30

du has an excellent marketing campaign. I am sure that the ad wasn't trying to offend anyone. I personally love the ad campaigns airing on Dubai One TV which depicts different cultural aspects of the UAE.
Faisal
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 10:17

If it were my country's national anthem being used like that, it would have offended me. Some things should be left well alone. I would say that the people who made this ad and those who approved it lacked a good sense of judgement or are an irreverent lot that nothing is sacrosanct to them. As we live in a multinational community, caution should be exercised when using cultural/ethnic/national symbols and identities as a show of respect to the multitude of races and nationalities co-existing here.
Mency
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 10:14

I thought the ad was brilliant actually, come on, anyone who has been to Double Decker could figure that one out! Well done du!
Ahmad
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 10:13

I know the advertising agency that creates the adverts for du and I personally find the idea lame rather than offensive. That was a cheap shot compared to the big efforts they put in their campaigns.
Dixie
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 09:50

I don't see how it can be offensive? I'm English but something like that would never bother me. I think people take things too seriously these days. The problem with the world now, is everyone is super sensitive. You're not really allowed to say anything about anyone in case they might get offended.
Andy
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 09:42

I do not think the ad was offensive in the slightest. It was fun and did its job of reminding me of England. All the Brits I know loved the ad. Let's all get over ourselves.
Nic
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 09:41

And so what happened to the slogans of freedom of expression so much talked about in the West. Freedom for creativity and art should be understood as a common benchmark globally. If cartoons against a religion can be considered allowed to protect individuals right to expression than why not using the national anthem. I don't see any difference. I don't think du should remove it principally but than to avoid controversy may be it should.
Uvais
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 09:22

I doubt most Brits found it offensive, most of us have got more important things to concern ourselves with. Unfortunately there are far too many people here in the UAE who get upset at the slightest suggestion of an insult to their personal or national pride. I think we'd all be happier and more relaxed if we all stopped taking ourselves too seriously.
RKC
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 09:15

This is bad. How can you disrespect a country race or religion. What if this happened to our country. We would have felt very bad.
AA
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 08:26

Although I didn't find the ad offensive in the slightest, and I even believe most Britains found it quite amusing and entertaining, I do agree with the fact that any nation's national anthem should not be "ridiculed". After all: I can think of nations that would be deeply offended and even riot in the streets if their anthem were changed in such a way. So it's just fair that Britain's anthem is shown the same respect and courtesy.
Jessica H
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 08:20

Why the double standards? The choice of including the British National anthem in a du advert simply falls within the Universal right for Freedom of Expression. Therefore, to pull the plug on this advert means acceptance of the ill expectations by some people who got offended.
Wissam
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 08:13

The one thing that sets the Brits apart from most others is the ability to laugh at themselves and not take things too seriously. A lot of the trouble in the world today stems from people taking offence at minor things such as this. If anything, the parody of the Phillipino waiter was offensive. Let us keep things in perspective as there are more serious things in the world to worry about. What is it about Brits when they become expats? If this had been on something like Monty Python no one would have raised an eyebrow.
Leslie
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 08:08

I thought it was a funny, innocent ad- by no means was it intended to be offensive. People should just lighten up- it's not like du offended the queen or anything.
Mike
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 08:03

I guess it should be fine. Ain't Briton a democratic country ;)
Ashraf
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 07:33

No matter, the world is free for colonial system yet the Brits think they are above everyone and still rule the world. It's a mistake and mistakes do happen. Of late the Indian Flag was used as towel so what. There are American who use there flag as undergarments.
Ebrahim
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: August 06, 2007, 07:26

Thank God it is going off air - it was a rubbish ad to start with!
KU
Dubai,India
Posted: August 06, 2007, 07:10