Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Must not suggest that thieves could be brown



France does have a significant black population, particularly in Paris
Starbucks France has run into trouble with an anti-pickpocketing poster which some customers found racist. The poster by the American coffee company shows a man with dark skin surrounded by arrows pointing at a mobile phone, a laptop, a rucksack and a wallet.

The text on the poster reads: "Be on your guard against unusual behaviour from a stranger. Don't let pickpockets spoil your moment of relaxation at Starbucks. Keep an eye on your belongings."

A customer in a Paris branch of the store took offence when he saw the poster and alerted anti-racist group, SOS Racisme. The group demanded the withdrawal of the poster, saying it "targeted a minority" and attributed "delinquent behaviour" to them, reported newspaper Ouest-France.

Starbucks rushed to insist the man on the poster was supposed to represent a customer, not the thief.

Starbucks, which employs 1,000 people in France, has withdrawn the posters from its stores.

Source

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, the guilty see themselves in the image and not their victims - ha ha!

Anonymous said...

Methinks the guilty doth protest too much!

Anonymous said...

I'm surprised Starbucks was that honest! It must have been a new employe who doesn't know how very PC they are.

Anonymous said...

I guess Benefit of the Doubt is a term not acknowledged anymore!

Anonymous said...

if it offends you, don't look at it problem solved.

Jub Jub Bird said...

Unfortunatly some persons have to make a big deal out of everything