A MILK advertisement promoting Devondale’s chilled brand has hit the headlines again this week, after being found to be racist by the Advertising Standards Bureau (ABS).
The ABS said it had upheld a complaint, which said the 15-second ad was “racist and offensive” in its depiction of an Asian man trying to farm dairy cows in a business suit.
It said the shorter version of the ad focused on the Asian man attempting to herd cows into a shed, while at the same time a voiceover states “some businesses have no business making your milk”.
Text in the final shot reads: proudly owned by Aussie farmers.
The ABS Board upheld the complaint, saying the combination of the text and voiceover was suggestive Asian people were not Australian and they were not capable of being farmers.
As part of Murray Goulburn’s chilled milk advertising campaign, a longer version of the ad showed a range of characters from diverse groups, including men and women and people of different ages and appearances.
In its determination on the case, ABS said it noted the longer version each character was seen performing tasks with the same level of incompetence, while each person was dressed in suits and the voiceover remained the same.
But the shorter version failed to convey the same comedic light, and focused on the Asian character.
ABS said the ad delivered a negative suggestion that people of Asian background were not capable of, or should not be involved in farming.
It said the use of this particular character from the full length advertisement to make into one of the shorter versions amounted to a depiction which discriminates against a section of the community based on race and that it did breach Section 2.1 of the Code.
“The Board considered that the focus on an Asian man does connote an anti-Asian sentiment and anti-foreign ownership when accompanied by a voiceover saying ‘some businesses have no business making your milk… proudly owned by Aussie farmers’ and depicting the man being out of place,” the case determination stated.
Murray Goulburn said the 15-second ad was no longer in rotation, because its media schedule was complete.
When the ad first went to air in July, it divided opinions in the farming community.
Jamberoo, NSW, dairy farmer Lynne Strong penned a blog on the issue, describing the ads as "bizarre" and said they were sending out the wrong message to the people who bought the milk.
She told Stock & Land that when Murray Goulburn was investing money in overseas market, this was a time to "be friends with everybody" - and not risk upsetting potential selling avenues.
After the finding by ABS this week, Mrs Strong had added another entry to her blog on the issue, writing: “potentially fuelling xenophobia in jest has no place in the Australian dairy industry”.