Possible contentious poster launched by the Remain Campaign to galvanise the black vote

I don't think so, jingls

I see a sweet old Asian lady, too, not representative of all Asians. The ones I know are savvy enough to vote.

All I was saying was that to find out if a situation such as this is racist would be to reverse the situation and ask yourself if it would offend and be against the law; purely a technical exercise, not an emotional one.

Yeah, but you shouldn't confine everything to technicalities. There should be room for actual thinking.

Actually, I think a picture showing a little old lady aggressively jabbing a finger at a National Front-ite, would be roundly applauded.

Of course it would be racist the other way round - no doubt about it. The portrayal of an elderly white lady being harangued by a tough beefy black man, would be perceived as racist provoking an outcry. Actually both are racist if we're honest, on the assumption that all people who look like the white guy are violent and aggressive, and a similarly portrayed black man would be the same. Not necessarily as you should never judge a book by its cover.

Who's assuming that all white guys are violent and aggressive?

Why only make a distinction on race/skin colour?

Why not assume the poster is saying all males are violent or all elderly females are serene?

The poster is aimed at those members of ethnic minorities groups who aren't registered to vote. Anybody who followed the London Mayor election will have seen many racist slurs. Presumably Saatchi and Saatchi did some research before designing the poster, so they will have taken into account the perceptions of those who don't register to vote. It would be interesting to hear their rationale.

Is there any evidence that white people don't vote, because they're intimidated by big, beefy black men?

Of course not, but is there any evidence that asian ladys don't vote because of aggressive white skinheads? They're more likely to be intimidated by their own menfolk.

There is some evidence, particularly regarding the controversy surrounding the ousted Mayor of Tower Hamlets, that some Asian voters are coerced into voting in a certain way.

Indeed they might be, but there IS evidence Asians are bullied by aggressive whites.

This is an example:

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2016/03/04/britain-first-mosque-protest-video_n_9382658.html

In any case, Saatchi and Saatchi claim the poster isn't about race, but democracy. Personally, I don't think knuckle dragging thugs should have a vote, but they do and tend to exercise their right to vote, even if Paul Golding, Britain First's leader, turned his back on Sadiq Khan during the declaration of Khan's win in the London Mayor election. So much for believing in democracy - ha!

So maybe the poster is about everybody having a vote, even the lowest common denominators in society.

In fact, an elderly Asian lady could look at the poster and think 'if I go out to vote I may be harassed by a white thug like that' and decide not to go.

As I said previously, I think the poster is a mistake and does not portray its message with any clarity, whatever the message is - it seems to be different things to different people, so it has failed in its purpose.

But nn elderly white women don't get harangued by beefy black men. Not in the way any Muslim women are likely to be insulted by National Front type white yobs.

It's not racist, simply because the intent to be racist is very plainly not there. The illustration is being used for a purpos. A good purpose at that.

Nobody will know whether it's failed in its main purpose until anybody has any idea whether it increased the number of BAME voters.

I would say it's at least partially succeeded, because it's made people think and talk, which is the aim of this kind of advertising.

Great post and spot on, jingl.