Irn-Bru ad was widely reported

I found it interesting that Torin Douglas had not heard of the complaints about the Irn-Bru cow/burger advertisement: “…we had not heard about the incident before… but the Advertising Standards Association did not bother to mention it in its monthly cases report” (MW April 8).

The incident was quite widely covered in the Asian Press (Eastern Eye on August 21 and Garavi on Gujarat August 22), where it was reported that not only was the content of the advertisement considered offensive but the poster in question was placed next to a Hindu temple in Slough.

Yogesh Patel of the Swaminarayan Temple in Neasden suggested at the time that drawing up a code of conduct that took the feelings of other communities into account might be a good idea.

Perhaps, post Macpherson, someone might take him seriously.

Karen Pearce

Building Bridges

London N3