Pepe Reina's Advert Is Offensive, But We've Seen Worse on British TV
22:41 - Tuesday 06 March 2012 - In Categories Sport, World VideosUntil recently, Luis Suarez – banned for eight matches for racially abusing another footballer – was the only member of the Liverpool squad accused of racism.
But last week, Pepe Reina, the team’s goalkeeper, became embroiled in another race row after an advert he appeared in was withdrawn from TV in Spain following complaints.
Simon Woolley, director of Operation Black Vote, the non‑political group that campaigned to have the advert pulled, said: ‘Given that Liverpool football club is trying to move forward from the Suarez affair, it’s a shame another one of their players has caused offence by appearing in an advert that seems to come from a bygone era.’
The advert (above 1:01) is bad, but we’ve seen worse and are amazed it was pulled after just one complaint.
In June, the BBC, received dozens of complaints about the clip below, taken from an episode of The One Show and broadcast live to two million viewers.
Unlike the French insurance company responsible for the advert, the BBC is funded by the British public.
Woolley is an expert at galvanising support for positive causes, but rather than whingeing about Spanish footballers and French multinationals, perhaps he should look closer to home and lead a crusade to remove Chris Evans from the BBC – we’d support a campaign like that; wouldn’t you?
