Dear all,
shortly after Hornbach claimed that the ad would be "replaced by a follow-up ad from April 15 onwards," German Advertising Standards Council (Werberat) told us the whole truth about the story: Werberat recognized that the ad violates its rule, "in particular the paragraph 1 of the 'Code of Conduct of the German Advertising Standards Council against personal denigration and discrimination'. According to this code, no expressions or depictions may be used in commercial adverting which discriminate against persons on account of their gender, race, or place of origin." The result: the ad had to be immediately removed from all German media, including TV, online, and movie theaters!
What a huge success we made together! :)
However, Hornbach didn't do the whole homework yet. The problematic ad is still running in countries where such a decision is not made, including Austria, Rumania, Czech Republic, and the Netherlands. These countries are not only a popular destination for holidays among Asians but also home to many generations of Asians in Europe. Thus: Let us celebrate the stage win by sending Florian Preuß and Axel Müller one more E-Mail demanding the removal of the ad from all channels in entire Europe! You can find the E-Mail addresses here:
https://www.hornbach-holding.de/de/contact.html
Attached you will find the decision of Werberat in English.
Today, I can finally enjoy the spring breeze. I hope you can enjoy the Spring as well.
Best,
Sung Un
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Commercial „This is what spring smells like” by Hornbach Baumarkt AG
A_2019-190_Hornbach AG
Dear Sir or Madam,
You have sent us a complaint regarding the above-mentioned advertising measure by Hornbach. The commercial was examined by the decision committee of the German Advertising Standards Council, taking into account your criticism as well as the comments received from the company and from the responsible advertising agency. As a result, the committee has come out in favour of a complaint. The advertising measure infringes the codes of conduct of the German Advertising Standards Council, in particular the paragraph 1 of the “Code of Conduct of the German Advertising Standards Council against personal denigration and discrimination”. According to this code, no expressions or depictions may be used in commercial adverting which discriminate against persons on account of their gender, race, or place of origin.
The Advertising Standards Council considers the scene with the Asian protagonist as an infringement of the advertising code which is not acceptable. In the overall context of the spot, the commercial is to be criticized for ridiculing Asian women and devaluing them because of their origins and because of the shown clichéd behaviour of Asians pulling used laundry out of vending machines.
The gender cliché was reversed in the spot by a self-confident woman who is smelling a men's shirt (and not, for example, a man smelling women's clothing). Nevertheless, people from Asia are portrayed as “socially disturbed” - albeit in an exaggerated way. From the point of view of the Advertising Standards Council, playing with clichés in advertising should not be objected to per se. However, and similar to other promotional contents, the use of stereotypes shall not be degrading. Humour, irony, and exaggeration are also important stylistic devices in advertising. But a racist advertising statement cannot be justified with the often used argument that a commercial’s meaning should be seen "with a twinkle in one’s eye".
The Advertising Standards Council considers the company's statement to be credible that a racist meaning was not intended. The dismay of people of Asian origin here in Germany and from other countries from which the Advertising Standards Council has received complaints, was probably underestimated by the company. The company's approach of meeting its critics in person, publishing a multilingual website and including the address in the advertising films is appreciated by us. However, from the point of view of the Advertising Standards Council, this does not change the fact that the content of the spot is discriminatory and racist. In this regard, we pointed out in our decision that it is not a question of how the advertiser wishes his advertising to be understood, but of how the average consumer perceives it from an impartial point of view.
After the Advertising Council has informed the company of the complaint and also that a public reprimand will be made if the advertising is not changed or suspended, the company has decided to stop the campaign which was originally planned until the end of April 2019. As of today, Monday, 15 April 2019, the commercial will no longer be used or advertised in Germany (TV, online, cinema).
In order not to censor the resulting debate about the spot "This is what spring smells like ", Hornbach announced that it would not completely delete the spot from the company's social media channels. The video including all comments can still be found via the existing links on its social media channels. There the spot is supplemented by an explanatory sentence to inform citizens about the debate that has arisen. The website www.hornbach.de/unserehaltung will also be maintained for information purposes.
As the company agreed to stop the advertising after receiving the complaint by the German Advertising Standards Council, we were able to forgo a public reprimand in accordance with our Rules of Procedure. This concludes the proceedings in this case.
Thank you very much for your information.
Yours faithfully,
Team German Advertising Council