Compare the meerkat: Only in The Guardian part II

There’s a confusing piece on Comment is Free today, accusing Aleksandr Orlov – everyone’s favourite meerkat comparer in the comparethemarket.com adverts – of racism:

My girlfriend, who is Ukrainian, turned to me and said: "I don't like this advert, it is very offensive to me." I mentioned it to a friend who said his Latvian lodger also found it offensive.

Peter Jones’s article fails to specify what part of Aleksandr’s portrayal was deemed so offensive. However, as there are no other cultural indicators in the adverts (aside from actual meerkats being African), Jones concentrates on the accent:

The sole point… is, it seems, to highlight the idea that east Europeans cannot pronounce the word market properly when they speak English. It struck me how racist it was to parody what is now a significant part of the British population in this way.

It’s arguable that the ‘east European’ accent discussed is itself a rather gross generalisation. Similarly, Jones’s point that ‘market’ is “a word that eastern Europeans/Russian pronounce "meerkat"” is also baffling. Coming from a part-Ukrainian family, I can confirm no one pronounces ‘market’ like ‘meerkat’ – unless I’m missing some dialectal quirk. Rather, market just sounds a bit like meerkat in general, doesn't it?

It's difficult to note any other Slavonic stereotype in Aleksandr aside from his accent. Certainly nothing anywhere near the negative image of the UK's Polish community in some of our national press.

It’s curious that so many editors allow their content to descend to self-parody. There’s the Mail and its outrageously misleading scare stories. There’s the local press and its ‘custard shortage’ and ‘missing cats’ mundanity. And now, we’re in danger of the Guardian fulfilling its own peculiar caricature. 

(So far, Aleksandr has maintained a dignified silence. Thanks to Shane Richmond for the tip.)

Comments

[Will Sturgeon]

This tells me The Media Blog needs to do an annual awards...because we have a nailed on winner here for most idiotic thing to appear in print during 2009.

Fair play Peter Jones has his two sources: his own partner and a friend's Latvian lodger. I'm convinced that's a representative sample enough to take this issue to the national press...

Sure, the ASA said it hadn't received a single complaint... but that's because Eastern Europeans don't like to grumble, apparently. Especially not to the media, despite this piece - on the Guardian's website - being based on the complaint of the same Ukrainian who says they don't like to complain. Er... and wasn't his own complaint about pigeonholing nationalities?

Now I've confused myself.

The Guardian, hang your head in shame for giving this ridiculous complaint the oxygen of publicity.

Jones' final point: "The irony of the situation is that those in charge at the ASA and ITV probably consider themselves the most politically correct in society..."

Says a man staking a claim for the most laughably PC campaign ever waged; against a meerkat puppet with a bit of an accent, lest we forget the seriousness of the affront.

[CJWarnock]

"I have this friend right, and he is Italian and everything, and he reckons that the Dolmio adverts with the puppets and the funny voices are well racist...."

"And I have this other mate and he did not like that "juice loose aboot this hoose" ad that ran a while back. 'Cos that was well racist too. Scots innit."

Having now established myself at the forefront of keeping TV ad land safe for all nationalities, can I have a Guardian column as well?

In the works of a New York caricature I was recently agahast at: "This is redonkulous..."

[Martin Belam]

If you follow Aleksandr on Twitter - http://twitter.com/Aleksandr_Orlov - it is quite clear that he is a specifically Russian meerkat based in Moscow, rather than a generic "Eastern European" stereotype.

[Ashley Wassall]

However much i agree that this advert should not be considered racist, i think you're missing the point. This article appeared in the 'comment is free' section of the Guardian, where various commmentators of varying levels of note (and even the general public) can bring up points as a debate topic. Perhaps the article was given 'the oxygen of publicity' simply to raise the issue of accents being used for stereotypical products or campaigns in this way? The idea is kick start discussion.

Whatever you think, this article is on a part of the Guardian that is for opinion and debate and does not represent its editorial position on any subject. Feel free to disagree (for what its worth i think the arguement is stupid too), but what you're advocating is the same as what you're criticising - "i don't like that so why should it be allowed to exist."

[Will Sturgeon]

Fair point Ashley, debate is critical and the Guardian is a leader in that regard, but publishing this piece has actually undermined the value of the platform and sadly if that continues more worthwhile debates may now not be heard or taken seriously.

[Anon]

...and, as one comment on The Guardian website points out:

"They are not suggesting Russians cannot pronounce market. In fact, in the advert the Russian Meerkat pronounces market and meerkat perfectly.

"The suggestion is that people in the UK are looking for the comparethemarket and have got it wrong and found compare the meerkat by accident..."

[David Brown]

Peter Jones - or Phil Space?

If we are talking absurd stereotypes here then Jones neatly fits into that of the angst-ridden, overly-sensitive, right-on Guardianista.

And, as ever with these things, his ridiculous piece guarantees the ad and the cheeky Orlov will attract even more attention and coverage in the future.

[Will Sturgeon]

Ashley, a second point, I note the Guardian has now closed the comments on the article, which seems to negate the value of it sparking debate.

Of course, in this instance it didn't spark debate, just anger, robust criticism and some well argued claims that it is actually a PR stunt by CompareTheMarket.

The latter claim seems a leap but stranger things have happened.

Either way, I struggle to see any reasonable argument as to why it should have been published.

[CJWarnock]

If "Comment is Free" then clearly in this case we got what we paid for...

[Your mum]

Let me simplify this for you all.

Peter Jones, if he is real (and I've seen no proof to suggest otherwise), has misunderstood the advert following a complaint from his girlfriend.

She probably thought the accent wasn't very good, and he escalated this in his own mind to blaming an animated meerkat for being racist. He then took it one step further, and started imagining that this meerkat had carefully thought through the kinds of words 'foreign' people say funny, realised one of them was 'market', then worked out - by happy chance - that a lot of the traffic to his imaginary wildlife comparison site was coming from a real British insurance retailer. He then went on to make a series of short films about his experiences, just to take his revenge on the UK, by stirring up hatred among its Eastern European residents.

When you see what happened, it's obvious why The Guardian chose to run this important comment.

[rose]

I think its incredible that so many people are so heavily invested in this fantasy creature. I found this great article on the subject over here: onthebutton.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/compare-the-meerkat/

[Ankora]

What a load of scat. Everyone knows that we spent years travelling from the Kalahari before our Russian relatives became famous - this is part of our original accent is all! See more about another part of the clan at www.amazingmeerkats.com. Ankora.

[Em]

Either that or they have given him an accent to make it interesting and the market/meercat thing is just supposed to be funny in case people mishear it! It's funny in the first place because it's not that likely that people would want to compare meerkats. People read too deeply into things sometimes. It's political correctness gone too far!