New Zealand – Billboards Offensive to Jews Removed Quickly after Complaint

New Zealand – Advertisement billboards pitching a new program for Prime Television have been removed after complaints from the Jewish community.

One billboard in Wakefield St, Wellington, and two in Auckland were removed today after going up on Tuesday.

The billboards bore the slogan: “Advertising Agency Seeks: Clients. All business considered, even from Jews.”

Regional Wellington Jewish Council chairman David Zwartz said the phrase “even Jews” suggested they were “some other sort of class of human beings – second-class citizens” and harked back to the time when it was “acceptable to be anti-Semitic”.
“It’s not the case now, especially in New Zealand. It was totally derogatory to Jewish people, in any context.”

The billboards were removed after a complaint from New Zealand Jewish Council chairman Geoff Levy, who was also angry about a two-page advertisement using the same wording in the latest Time magazine.

Mr Levy said Prime had acted quickly to remove the billboards and if the council received a written apology and a two-page apology in the next Time the matter would be resolved.
However, the damage had already been done and 26,000 copies of Time would remain on waiting-room tables and in houses for months to come, he said.
“The wisdom of the entire project defies belief,” he said. “Long ago we moved on from this sort of language, but obviously not.

Prime spokesman Tony O’Brien said approval for the campaign, had been given by the marketing department, which had made an error of judgment.
All the billboards were immediately removed and an apology would run in the next edition of Time, he said.
“We take full responsibility for this and we have totally apologized to the Jewish community. The campaign crossed the line from being provocative to being offensive.”