DECISION
Meeting 12 June 2001
Complaint 01/96
Complainant: The Jerusalem Centre - R. Bodle
Advertisement: WestpacTrust – "If I was a rich man"
Complaint: An advertisement for the WestpacTrust was screened on TV 2.
To the background music of "If I was a rich man", it depicted a
variety of scenes ostensibly portraying people of different nationalities
contemplating their savings. For example it depicted a man holding a hammer
over his piggy bank, and another stacking his money in piles and a woman trying
to retrieve her money jar from the rafters of her home. A voice-over stated,
"…How you manage your money day to day is your business. How you save money
everyday is ours…".
The Complainant said:
"Last evening I was watching TV
on Channel Two and noticed an advertisement from the Westpac Trust Bank entitled
“Free Everyday Banking”.
The script scene showed an elderly man
counting his well earned cash, stacking each coin in separate piles only to
have them collapse over a table with some coins landing on the floor.
The Theme Music came from the Opera
Show known as “Fiddler On The Roof” and the song entitled "If I
was a rich man". This ad is "ANTT-SEMETIC".
It is in “Poor Taste” and “extremely
offensive” to the Jewish minority of our country as it depicts the Jewish
people as ‘money hungry’ which boarders on anti-Semitism, which
has proved dangerous in the past. We of the unlearned Gentile majority have little
or no understanding. (see your video “The Greatest Hatred” that was
screened on TV some months ago).
In its true sense a Rich
Jew” is a person who is ‘satisfied with his lot’, and depicts on his
‘spiritual wealth’, or ‘family contentment’ and this applies
to all classes in every day Jewish society. It has never been due to wealth in
the monetary sense. Their wealth lies in their biblical knowledge, and
not in the monetary sense as it is depicted in the above mentioned
advertisement.
Please in all fairness, Please
remove this very Offensive Advertisement."
The Chairman ruled that the following provisions were relevant:
Basic Principle 4
"All advertisements should be prepared with a due sense of social responsibility to consumers and to society."
Basic Principle 2
"Financial advertisements should observe a high standard of social responsibility particularly as consumers often rely on such services for their financial security."
Advertisements should comply with the laws of New Zealand. Attention is drawn to the Human Rights Act 1993 and the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990.
"Advertisements should not portray people in a manner which is reasonably likely to cause serious or widespread hostility, contempt, abuse or ridicule."
The advertiser said:
" We refer to your letter of 14 May 2001 and make the following comments
in response to the complaint made by Mr. R H Bodle.
In
deciding whether the advertisement is in breach of the Advertising Codes of
Practice it is important to view the advertisement in its entirety including
the way in which the characters are depicted and the use made of background
music.
The
advertisement is a promotion for the WestpacTrust Encore bank account — a day to day account designed to help
customers manage their money more easily. The advertisement seeks to depict, in
a light hearted way, a number of individuals in various situations who either
have little or no money and the steps they take in managing their money. To
reinforce this impression the advertisement makes use throughout the entire
advertisement of the music from the song “If I was a Rich Man” from the popular
musical “Fiddler on the Roof’. The tag line for the advertisement is “How you
manage your money day to day is your business, how you save money every day is
ours”.
Mr.
Bodle contends that the advertisement’s use of this particular piece of music
and specifically in relation to the end-scene of the man counting his money on
the table results in the advertisement being anti-Semitic and depicts the
Jewish community as ‘money hungry”. We do not believe this is the case nor do
we believe viewers would draw the same conclusion.
WestpacTrust
has a very wide customer base and we seek to reflect this in our advertising.
The advertisement is an example of this and shows a diverse range of
characters. These characters are engaged in activities which are of a common
everyday nature, readily identifiable as such, and accordingly, highly unlikely
to bring either individuals or groups into contempt or ridicule from other
members of the community. Use of this particular piece of music attempts to
evoke viewer's recollection of the music’s title so as to draw a humorous
connection with the character’s activities and show the irony that, if the
characters were rich, they would not be in this position. The use of the song
was for the connection to money only, and at no time was it intended to direct
attention to any particular ethnic group.
In
view of these everyday activities engaged in by the characters we do not
believe the advertisement offends generally prevailing community standards nor
does it encourage belief in out-dated stereotypes or portray groups or
individuals in a negative manner.
WestpacTrust is very mindful of its obligations to comply with both statutory regulations and industry codes of practice and, to this end, have in place stringent internal compliance systems to ensure we meet out responsibilities. We regret that Mr. Bodle finds the advertisement in poor taste and extremely offensive to the Jewish community, however we have sought to advertise our Encore account in a humorous and fun way. The advertisement is in no way meant to convey an anti-Semitic message to viewers, nor does it intend to single out any particular ethnic group in relation to who is more likely to take better care of their money.
We
would ask that the complaint is not upheld."
The agency,
Saatchi & Saatchi, said:
" I am writing in response
to your letter to Kim Wicksteed in regard to the above complaint from Roger H
Bodle.
The advertising codes of practice
specifically mentioned in your letter are:
The second basic principal states:
Financial advertisements should observe a high standard of social
responsibility particularly as consumers often rely on such services for their
financial security.
Code of Ethics, Basic Principle 4
Decency - Advertisements should not
contain anything which clearly offends against generally prevailing community
standards of decency taking into account the context, medium, audience and
product (including services).
People Code, Rule 1
Advertising should not portray
individuals or groups within society in a manner, which is likely to expose
them to violence, hatred, contempt, abuse, denigration or ridicule from other
members of the community.
Advertisements should not encourage
belief in inaccurate or out-dated stereotypes in regard to the role, character
and the behaviour of groups of people in society.
I would like to make the following
points in relation to the complaints:
This commercial was developed with a due
sense of responsibility to consumers and society. The script for this
commercial also underwent a rigorous legal approval process.
The commercial shows how a number of
individuals manage their money in somewhat charming or quirky scenarios - a
cute piggy bank, money in a jar stuck away in the attic, collecting coins that
have slid down the back of the sofa, counting coins in stacks. The talent used
in this commercial was selected on the basis of giving a fair representation of
the New Zealand population both in terms of age, gender and race. The man
specifically mentioned in Mr. Bodles letter (“the elderly man counting his well
earned cash’) is in fact of Asian origin. There was absolutely no intention to
portray any character in this commercial as a Jew.
The commercial was developed to
promote WestpacTrust’s Encore product - a transactional account. The commercial
sets out to demonstrate how WestpacTrust can help people save money on their
day-to-day banking. The music accompanying the commercial, “If I were a Rich
man”, was selected on the basis that it reinforced the message we were trying
to convey ie that with Encore, you can be better off financially or
richer in the monetary sense, as you are saving money everyday.
The song “If I were a Rich Man” is
from the popular musical ‘Fiddler on the Roof’. The show is based on the short
story “Tevye and His daughters” by Sholom Aleichem and deals with issues such
as persecution, poverty, and the struggle to hold on to one’s beliefs in the
midst of a hostile and chaotic environment. The song, “If I were a Rich Man”,
will however be best known by most New Zealanders as the version performed by
Rolf Harris.
In the context of this communication,
the song has no relevant link to Judaism and cannot in anyway be considered as
Anti-Semitic.
We do not wish to offend anyone. We
have developed this commercial in a responsible manner and the treatment cannot
in anyway be considered in breach of the principles contained in the
Advertising Code of Practice. We consider the grounds for complaint
unjustifiable…".
TVCAB said
on behalf of the media:
"The complainant is concerned that a commercial depicting people saving
their money is anti-Semitic because the background music is an instrumental
version of a song “If I Were a Rich Man”.
This
song is from the well-known musical “Fiddler on the Roof’. The musical’s story
is based on the short story by Sholom Aleichem entitled “Teyve and His
Daughters”. Set in 1905, Teyve is a poor man who sings the song “If I Was a
Rich Man” to illustrate that the future of his daughters would be different if
he was more wealthy -they would then be free to marry for love. The song is
about a person’s choices sometimes being limited by their finances - surely a
universal theme not limited to ethnicity or religion.
The
complainant’s proposal that the advertisement “depicts the Jewish people as
‘money hungry” is not supported by the advertisement itself. The commercial
shows a range of different types of people saving their cash in a variety of
ways. We do not believe that any ethnicity or religion has been focused upon or
highlighted. Rather, these various people are going to extraordinary lengths to
try to save cash and this is depicted in a humorous light.
We do
not agree with the complainant’s view that any one particular group has been
singled out, nor do we think that the use of this piece of popular music -
whose sentiment is particularly relevant to the advertiser’s proposition - in
any way endorses or encourages anti-Semitism.
We do
not believe that the commercial has infringed the Advertising Codes of
Practice."
Deliberation
The Chairman directed the Board to consider this complaint in terms of three Codes. The Code of Ethics, the Code for People in Advertising and the Financial Code. In consultation with the Chairman it was the Board's view that only the People Code was relevant to its determination because the advertisement had failed to reach the relevant thresholds to effect a breach of the requirement of a due sense of social responsibility.
Therefore the Board referred to the advertisement, and the People Code, but was of the opinion that rather than being derogatory or denigrating, it simply reflected the advertiser's wide customer base. It ostensibly portrayed individuals of different nationalities illustrating in a hyperbolic manner, how they dealt with their money. The theme of "How you manage your money day to day is your business, how you save money every day is ours" is in effect emulated by the song title "...If I were a rich man…" implying that, if you bank with WestpacTrust using its "day to day" account, you too could save, and be a rich man.
In the Board's view the song had a life of its own analogous with Dickens characters, and in this respect concurred with the TVCAB submission that it was a universal song and not in any way limited to a particular ethnicity or religion.
In the Board's view the advertiser had not singled out any group or religion for disparagement and therefore in this respect the advertisement was not deemed to be in breach of the Code.
Accordingly the Board ruled to not uphold the complaint.
Decision: Complaint
Not Upheld