The Tombola TV advert showing a white man in a dinner suit and a black man in a floral shirt sitting by a fire has been banned. In the ad the black man is playing a ukulele and repeating in song everything the other man said.

Two viewers complained that the tv ad presented a negative racial stereotype.


While Clearcast, the company that approves tv adverts before they are broadcast, said it did not occur to them that the ad could be interpreted as presenting a negative stereotype the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld the viewers complaints.

The ASA stated that the relationship between the two characters was ''defined as the power of the white man over the black man''. It also noted that the white man was wearing a suit whereas the black man was casually dressed and was portrayed as less intelligent by repeating everything the white man said. The black man seemed to look to the white man for reassurance or instruction, which suggested that he was less intelligent or confident, raising further concerns.

The ASA stated: ”We considered that the ad could be interpreted as humiliating, stigmatising or undermining the standing of the black character and was therefore likely to cause serious offence.” It added that the online bingo commercial portrayed the black man as “less intelligent”.

The advert must not be broadcast again in its current form and Tombola have been warned against presenting negative racial stereotypes in future.

Tombola said it did not intend to use the ad again in future.