Black Marketing

Well, at least now we know how to keep Reform UK MPs at bay: we send David Lammy round to their houses and have him pull faces at them through the windows, such is their apparent terror of black people.  I mean, if just seeing non-white people in TV commercials offends them, then imagine what the effect of having one on their front lawn will be - doubtless sending them cowering behind their sofa, or shrieking in fear before hiding in a cupboard.  Of course, Lammy might have to dress up as a Zulu warrior, stick a bone through his nose and shout 'Ooga, booga, booga!' as he waves a spear, in order to entirely fulfil their racist expectations.  Now, I'm sure that you are going to say that I'm being grossly unfair, as it was only one Reform MP who was going on about how the number of non-white people featured in TV ads upset her.  Moreover, as her 'glorious' leader Nigel Fartage has pointed out, she was merely pointing out the fact that non-white people are over-represented in these ads, which don't correctly reflect the true demographics of Britain, so therefore what she said couldn't be racist.  Except that it is, because she is effectively saying that casting directors should discriminate against people on the basis of their race in order to fulfil some kind of 'quota'.  Which sounds almost 'woke', which I always thought that Reform was against.  And, yeah, all of those other Reform UK MPs, not to mention the people who vote for them, couldn't possibly be racists, could they?  Even though, if one of them makes racist statements, that constitutes about 20% of their parliamentary strength.  So maybe only a fifth of them are hardcore racists, with the other 80% being only casual racists, who either only think racist things, or only say them in private.

Even if we were to give the benefit of the doubt to these comments and accept that they aren't racist (even though they are), they are still profoundly ignorant.  The reason that UK TV commercials are so diverse in casting terms is because we live in a diverse society and, guess what, it isn't just white people who buy the stuff being advertised.  Non-white people are a valuable potential market who, if they don't see people like them in the advertising of goods, might decide that they aren't the target audience and be less inclined to buy them.   It's simple economics and basic good business practice.  Moreover, many of the ads are probably not actually 'UK' TV ads - they are actually international ads which will be shown on TV stations all over the world, including markets where white people aren't the majority.  But what the heck, why let simple facts get in the way of a good racist rant?  Worryingly, this incident is just the latest in a disturbing new trend of right-wing MPs pushing the limits to see what they can get away with saying, before being called out as racists, then falling back on the excuse that they were merely making a factual observation rather than a racist comment.  Because, while it might be true that the number of non-white people seen in TV commercials doesn't reflect precisely the UK's racial mix, or that you can walk through Handsworth in Birmingham and not see another white face because of the area's demographics, it is both the context and source of such 'factual statements', that give them away as having racist intent - ambitious right-wingers trying to impress at party conferences or as guests on right-wing talk shows on right-wing TV channels.  If you are going to be a racist, at least have the balls to come out and be honest about it.  After all, these are the people who claim to represent Britain's 'silent majority', although their apparent desire not to be seen as racist strongly implies that they actually know that, in this respect, at least, they don't represent a majority opinion.