'Mr Ping Pong' radio ad pulled for 'mocking Asian people'
A radio advertisement featuring an Asian man with the name "Mr Ping Pong" has been pulled from air by the advertising watchdog because it "mocked Asian people".
The commercial by Queensland business TP Concreting included a man using a fake Asian accent to portray "Mr Ping Pong".
The actor, who pretends to call the trades company for help, announces that his “mama has bog in the driveway”.
This is then followed by a voiceover which declares there’s "no job too weird”.
The actor playing "Mr Ping Pong" then offers the tradesman sushi, but only if they can do the job immediately.
The ad was removed after the Advertising Standards Bureau found that it was discriminatory and “mocked Asian people”.
The board found the ad was offensive because it suggested that Asian women go to the toilet on the driveway.
“The majority of the Board, however, noted cumulative effect of the man’s fake accent, the mother’s made up language, the naming of the man as ‘Mr Ping Pong’, the reference to the situation as ‘weird’ and the man’s offer of sushi and considered that this amounts to a suggestion that Asian people are being mocked,” it said.
“The advertisement presents Asian people in a manner which incites ridicule and that by mocking their command of English grammar and using a fake name, which is considered racist, rather than a real name, the advertisement is making fun of a difference between Western and Asian cultures which is humiliating for people of Asian descent.”
TP Concreting have since said they did not realise the ad was inappropriate.
The company confirmed they were organising a new commercial.
