Comments on: The Guardian’s Guide to Spotting Racism in Adverts – Look for Meerkats

By: art

art — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 17:10:28 +0000

I’m slowly losing the will to live now! I have been in business for decades and have use almost every trick in the book to advertise products, in a field which is already very difficult to operate in, the last thing we need is some new Meerkat Mafia!

By: Andrew Nattan

Andrew Nattan — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:20:50 +0000

There’s some conspiracies about Mr. Jones. Mainly as he shares a name with Peter Jones – owner of GoCompare. Maybe it’s not terrible Viral Marketing, maybe it’s just a terrible attempt to drum up some opposition to CTM amongst well-meaning liberals?

The plot thickens…

By: Roger Davies

Roger Davies — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:20:03 +0000

I got some bad news for this guy, Pavel Chekov in the original series of Star Trek was played by (dun, dun duh!!) and AMERICAN actor with a fake accent too!

If this is not racist, could you image him being played by a giant Meerkat?

You should, that would make an awesome series.

By: Rob

Rob — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:16:23 +0000

If this is really some sort of viral meerkating campaign run on The Guardian website for the beneift of God-knows-who, then Peter Jones is a genius.

Otherwise it’s one of the most pathetic whinges I’ve ever heard. As Kieron pointed out so eloquently: “It’s a fucking talking meerkat.”

By: Twitter Trackbacks for The Guardian's Guide to Spotting Racism in Adverts - Look for Meerkats - Unmemorable Title [unmemorabletitle.co.uk] on Topsy.com

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:50:40 +0000

[...] link is being shared on Twitter right now. @mr603, an influential author, said Is the Meerkat Racism Row [...]

By: Steven

Steven — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 09:00:28 +0000

There is something quite delicious seeing an SEO copywriter being suckered by a not-very subtle piece of viral marketing.

I think there’s something delicious about seeing an SEO copywriter use a not-so-subtle piece of viral marketing to drive traffic and comments to his blog!

By: Ian

Ian — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:52:58 +0000

It’s not quite a CGI animal shouting the N-word but it is all based around a terribly cheap laugh though, isn’t it?

In the latest advert, in which the servers are upgraded, there seems to be an implication that everyone with an Eastern European accent are in some way technologically backward or ‘simples’, if you prefer.

By: Andrew Nattan

Andrew Nattan — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:26:55 +0000

So The Guardian’s started printing Viral Marketing? I spotted that theory in the comments section too, right before another Guardian writer (not famed for his VM nous) jumps in pointing out how the whole campaign is a “racist” sendup of the lives of White Russians in the West following the revolution.

If it is Viral Marketing, I’m impressed (impressed enough to give it an airing here!), but the sheer earnest offended-for-the-sake-of-it nature of the post, and the placing makes me think it isn’t.

If that makes me a sucker, so be it.

By: Andrew Kelley

Andrew Kelley — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:13:30 +0000

There is something quite delicious seeing an SEO copywriter being suckered by a not-very subtle piece of viral marketing.

‘Someone could do a bloody good “Why inoffensive advert X offends me for ridiculous reasons” post.’

They had better make it a bit easier to spot next time eh ?

By: Andrew Nattan

Andrew Nattan — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:52:16 +0000

I hope it’s not beyond parody. Someone could do a bloody good “Why inoffensive advert X offends me for ridiculous reasons” post.