Better Red Than Dead? Advertising Complaints Panel Rules "Red Hair Is Not a Disability"

Ginger-haired people of Australia have failed in their bid to persuade a regulatory body to stop two advertising campaigns that make fun of redheads, illustrating how far political correctness can go when it comes to advertising. After receiving pages of complaints about a government road safety campaign and a TV spot for ANZ Bank, both of which poke fun at carrot-tops, that country's Advertising Standards Bureau issued the following priceless ruling:

The board noted that the Code does not refer to hair colour or physical attributes of a person and considered that having red hair is not a disability.

In the U.S., the First Amendment ensures there will never be a watchdog making politically correct decisions about which ads we can and cannot see, which is a shame given how much fun those watchdogs can be. In Australia and the U.K. (along with a host of other nations), ad standards panels frequently defend or ban commercials based on consumer complaints.

The overall effect is to keep blatantly offensive stuff off the air, but there's an advantage for advertisers too: You can make a line-crossing campaign and then have your staff write in to complain about it, and garner extra publicity. One suspects that's what happened here, as dozens of Aussies seem to have suddenly decided that having red hair makes them a minority whose special heritage and diversity need to be respected and given equal protection on the airwaves.

The first ad was a road safety commercial targeting teens that warns using a mobile phone while driving causes "gingers" to sleep with each other (another suggested that it causes emos to be born). The second was for ANZ Bank, and featured "Barbara" a red-headed clerk who is comically rude and stubborn toward customers. (See both videos below). Here are some of the complaints, as collected by the Sydney Morning Herald:

The advertisement patently slurs red-haired persons as obnoxious and inferior ... If any other ethnic group was identified thus you would promptly shrink from allowing the advertisement and brand the producer.

What would be the problem if two blonde people had sex? What makes it OK to attack red heads just because there is less of us?

After being bullied all through school having my hair pulled and cut by kids and teens to getting a part time job at a pub to pay my way through uni where I suffered even more abuse from drunk adults who wanted to see if my pubic hairs matched my head hairs I think I have suffered enough for my colouring. I don't think my own government should contribute to the belittling of a minority.

I am appalled as a visitor from the UK that the notion of redheads having sex is seen as a bad thing. I think this is a basic human rights issue. It's racism it's prejudice and it's a very very bad joke.

I am also a teacher and I know that students will be quoting this ad to me and this will make any red-headed students feel uncomfortable and possibly could lead to bullying. I also object to using the term 'dickhead' in the ad as many students will use this term justifying it by the fact that it was in a VicRoads ad so it must be OK to say it.

I find it utterly repulsive that my tax dollars now support a campaign which reinforces the derogatory message that it is supposedly 'hip/ trendy/ funny' to ridicule people such as myself.

The strangest thing is what the Australians were not complaining about: The tagline for the road safety spot is, "Don't be a dickhead. Don't use your phone," a phrase that would never have made it onto U.S. screens.

And finally: Red-heads down-under were especially unjustified in claiming they were discriminated against by the ads given that their country's new prime minister is Julia Gillard (pictured), a luminously henna-enhanced leftist whose politics (pro-choice atheist) are as red as her tresses.

Related:

Image by Flickr user ajmexico, CC.

More from CBS News