ASA says Cadbury was not racist when it compared Campbell to chocolate bar

News in pictures
News in pictures
On Facebook
From the blogs

Disclosure: We’d never even been to a club when we made our first single

For most of us, reaching eighteen years of age opens up a new world for exploration, spontaneity and...

Sepp Blatter: Penalty shoot-outs must remain, they’re football’s great leveller

As England supporters, we should scorn at any such deciding factor within football. On so many occas...

Why do some men consider the street as a female meat market?

Pronouncements on sexual inequality in the UK are normally met with an eye roll by my generation. As...

Political corruption reflects the widening chasm between the political class and the electorate

The corruption and hypocrisy which has come to characterise politics and politicians, and in particu...

A Cadbury's advertising campaign which compared Naomi Campbell to a bar of chocolate was not racist, the industry's watchdog has ruled.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) threw out complaints over the print advertisement which the model said was racially offensive.

The advert for Cadbury's Bliss range of Dairy Milk chocolate ran with the strapline "move over Naomi, there's a new diva in town".

Campbell said she was "shocked" by the advert, which "was in poor taste on a number of levels, not least in the way they likened me to their chocolate bar". Her mother, Valerie, said the model was "deeply upset by this racist advert".

Cadbury defended the advert, which ran on billboards and in magazines, arguing that it intended to poke fun at her reputation as a diva and that no link to her skin colour was intended. Later, the company withdrew the advert after taking legal advice and apologised to Campbell.

After receiving four complaints, including one from Operation Black Vote, which called the campaign an "insult" to black women, the council of the ASA launched an investigation.

It found the ad did not breach its code on racism. The watchdog concluded it was "likely to be understood to refer to Naomi Campbell's reputation for 'diva-style' behaviour rather than her race. On this basis the council decided that the ad was unlikely to be seen as racist or to cause serious or widespread offence."

Campbell believes that Cadbury, owned by the US food giant Kraft, would not have produced the campaign if the company employed more black staff. She said Cadbury, and other companies, would benefit from a "greater diversity at board and senior management level".

Cadbury's apology to Campbell was issued after the Rev Al Sharpton, the US civil rights activist, raised the prospect of a global consumer boycott unless Cadbury responded to Campbell's complaint.

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Career Services

Day In a Page

Is Ridley Scott the most macho man in movies?

Ridley Scott: The most macho man in movies?

His cinematic CV is unparalleled. Yet the Alien director is still obsessed with beating his rivals.
Being Gary Lineker: The clean-cut anchorman is this summer's Mr Sport

Being Gary Lineker

The clean-cut anchorman is this summer's Mr Sport...
Gallic gourmets are putting French cuisine back on the culinary map

Gallic gourmets put France back on culinary map

Overdone, out of touch and old-fashioned: French cuisine has never been at a lower ebb...
So Moorish: Mark Hix offers his own take on classic Moroccan dishes

So Moorish: Mark Hix's Moroccan dishes

Why not create a north African-inspired feast to share with your friends?
Sin and the single mother: The history of lone parenthood

Sin and the single mother

Maureen Paton explores the history of lone parenthood.
The outsider: Margaret Howell is British fashion's queen of minimalism

The outsider: Margaret Howell

The designer tells Susannah Frankel why she has never felt part of the fashion industry.
The 50 Best luggage

The 50 Best luggage

From chic cases to compact baggage, pack it all in this summer
For men only: A pilgrimage to Mount Athos in Greece

For men only: A pilgrimage to Mount Athos

On a secluded peninsula in north-east Greece lies an enclave that's way off the tourist map, especially for women...
48 Hours In: Faro

48 Hours In: Faro

More than just the gateway to the Algarve, this city has much to tempt you off the beach.
Here, the coast is always clear: Celebrating sixty years of Pembrokeshire's National Park

60 years of Pembrokeshire's National Park

Mick Webb reveals a land of puffins, tanks and Hollywood blockbusters.
Free Range: Meet the designers of tomorrow

Free Range

Meet the artists of the future
Feeding a hungry world – or meddling with laws of nature?

Feeding a hungry world – or meddling with laws of nature?

As scientists at Rothamsted's GM trials plead with activists not to sabotage their work, Michael McCarthy visits the battle field
Monkey meat that could be behind the next HIV

Monkey meat that could be behind the next HIV

Deep in Cameroon's rainforests, poachers are killing primates for food. Evan Williams reports from Yokadouma on a practice that could create a pandemic
Catcalls, whistles, groping: just another day for a young woman

Catcalls, whistles, groping: just another day for a young woman

Government urged to take abuse more seriously as London study shows 41 per cent are harassed
Jailing of Maori separatists stirs colonial-era resentment

Jailing of Maori separatists stirs colonial-era resentment

Militant Tuhoe tribe members defiant amid claims race relations had been set back 100 years