Hello, kettle? This is pot: “Black”
NS November 16th, 2007
The British, supposedly world-renowned for their sense of humour and ability to take the piss out of all and sundry in the name of fun, apparently can’t always apply that to themselves. This article from the BBC tells of the complaints Eurostar has received about an ad campaign they’re running in Brussels for train journeys to London. The complainants say it paints a bad picture of Britain. I don’t see what’s wrong with them, personally. Pretty funny and spot on, I would say!
You can dish it out but you can’t take it, eh Brits?
- Britishisms
- Comments(9)
well, i DO understand the objection to the skinhead – we’d hardly promote America with images of the KKK, now, would we? i like the concept – they just should have done it with like some old-skool punk rather than a skinhead.
I didn’t even look at it as a skinhead, I thought they were making fun of football hooligans. Ya don’t think?
yeah, skinhead football hooligans
“One which shows a half-naked skinhead relieving himself in a teacup”
(yes, I know not all skinheads are racist, but that’s still the prevailing stereotype)
nice! but would it make you want to come here? maybe it says more about Belgians and what they want from a trip?
well im off to pee in my tea. laters
Eh. I still don’t think it had some kind of racist skinhead agenda. You can’t deny that there are loads of these types of guys around, sporting the cross of St George and being drunk and disorderly (pissing into inappropriate containers being quite common). I don’t automatically equate a bald head with BNP membership.
Nikki — yeah, even though I find it quite funny in a train wreck sort of way, I do wonder why the Belgians thought this would make people WANT to come to the UK. I guess it’d be like if we had a billboard of a bunch of Belgians sitting mutely and expressionless with a backdrop of grey skies and ugly buildings. Not exactly inspiring, is it?
I still think that the Brits have got to be able to laugh at themselves if they’re going to laugh at everyone else though. Most people do but the ones who take the piss but get all ‘offended’ when it gets dished right back at them are really annoying.
maybe thats why he is pissing in a cup, ye know, coz we take the piss!! that poster works on so many levels!!!
The Brits are upset because they didn’t do the offending first.
See Nik, you are a proper Brit. I like your style.
Tabitha, you are also quite right. Some people just don’t see the hypocrisy and it makes me giggle.
I thought the whole joke was the other way around! After all it says “Watch out! London is just at the corner of your street/end of the road now!” I think au coin de la rue is the equivalent of “just a stone’s throw away”. So my reading is that the implication is more “watch it, those pesky Brits are just a stone’s throw away now, lock up your daughters or they’ll be round here popping balloons down your ear and pissing in your tea in no time!”.
The skinhead is probably meant to be a punk but nobody in Europe seemed to quite “get” punk, really so I expect they don’t realise there’s a difference between punk, ie anarchic naughty shocking but most essentially humorous behaviour which is essentially harmless and challenges preconceived ideas or skinheads, ie BNP, beating people up, angry mob, thugs and other behaviour people with absolutely NO sense of humour and even less brain tend to get up to when they want to feel important etc. That means if it’s punk, you assume humorous intent but with a skinhead you assume malicious intent. I’d reckon that’s why the got so many complaints.
I think they’re quite funny but the skinhead does make me feel uneasy… for the reasons outlined!
Cheers
BC