A Transport for London (TfL) advert has been banned for ‘perpetuating a negative racial stereotype about black men’. The decision, issued today by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), relates to an advert TfL from October last year. According to the ASA it:

‘Featured a video of a black teenage boy on a bus. The teenage boy, who was turned around in his seat, said to the passenger seated behind him, “Am I not good enough for you or something? Why you not chatting to me?”.’ The next shot was of a white teenage boy sitting on the bus with text overlaid which stated, “Would you know how to defuse incidents of hate crime, sexual offences and harassment?”. That text remained overlaid as the camera showed the left hand of a white teenage girl touching her right arm. The black teenage boy then said to her, “I said you look good and you don’t wanna go out with me?” The camera moved to the teenage girl’s face. She appeared uncomfortable and looked out of the window. The text on the screen changed to “Watch the full film to learn how to act like a friend”. The black teenage boy said, “Can you hear me? Look at me when I’m talking to you.”’

‘Featured a video of a black teenage boy on a bus. The teenage boy, who was turned around in his seat, said to the passenger seated behind him, “Am I not good enough for you or something? Why you not chatting to me?”.’

The next shot was of a white teenage boy sitting on the bus with text overlaid which stated, “Would........

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