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World (Thankfully) Freaks Out Over Spot-the-Transgender-Woman Commercial
The brilliant advertising super geniuses at gambling app, Paddy Power, decided it was totally acceptable to promote their company by packing a horse race audience with transgender women, and then asking spectators to “spot the stallions from the mares.”
Oh, and then they filmed a commercial documenting the whole thing!
Thankfully, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority was having none of it.
Upholding the complaints, the ASA said: “We considered that the ad trivialised a highly complex issue and depicted a number of common negative stereotypes about trans people.
“We considered that by suggesting that trans women would look like men in drag, and that their gender could be speculated on as part of a game, the ad irresponsibly reinforced those negative stereotypes.
“And, particularly by framing the game in a way that involved a member of the public who had commented on Paddy Power’s Facebook page, the ad condoned and encouraged harmful discriminatory behaviour and treatment.”
Phew.
Watch the commercial and tell us in the comments what you think. Is the commercial in bad taste? Wildly offensive? Kind of funny? Was the ASA right to step in and slap Paddy Power on the wrist?
And what do transgender women have to do with horse racing?!
(via BBC)
