The House of Frasier

Nanny has taught us all one very vital lesson in life, no matter how trivial the complaint, one person can change things; ie the minority can exercise control over the majority.

Whether this is good or bad, I leave you to judge.

One fine example of an individual changing things occured in my wonderful home town of Croydon the other day.

The House of Fraser chain had recently started an advertising campaign for their new range of fashion bits and pieces.

The slogan for the new campaign was:

"Black is back, white is right"

Can you guess what happened next?

Yes, that's right, one person complained that the slogan was racist.

Needless to say, the House of Fraser realising that in Nanny's Britain we have lost the power of thought and reasoning, pulled the entire campaign nationwide.

The complainant, a woman who does not want to be named, said:

"One of my colleagues first told me about the poster

and I had to see it before I believed it.

I was so amazed I took a picture of it.

All I can think is that they don't have

a very culturally aware marketing team

if they couldn't see how bad it would look.

It echoes a racist poem that was around in the 1960s

which said If you is white, you's alright,

if you's brown, stick around, but if you's black,

hmm, hmm, brother, get back, get back, get back.

I just feel for the people in Croydon who remember

those times and cannot believe

that it was actually put up in a shop window."

Now, at first sight, that may seem to be vaguely plausible. However, it is in fact utter bollocks!

Aside from the point that one person being offended should not necessarily be a valid reason for cancelling a campaign, there is a far larger fly in this woman's oinkment.

Her facts are wrong.

The "racist" poem that she inaccurately quotes, was in fact a Blues song written and performed by Big Bill Broonzy, the song was called "Black, Brown, and White Blues" (listen to an extract by clicking the link).

Mr Broonzy was in fact an American Blues singer, and ...errrmm...he was black.

The song was written to express his feelings about the inequalities between the races in America, at that time. Therefore, how the fark can the "complainant" describe it as being racist?

"Just listen to this song I'm singin brother,
you know its true,
If you're black and got to work for a living,
here's what people will say,
Now if you're white,
you're all right,
And if you're brown,
stick around;
But if you're black,
oh brother,
Get back, get back, get back"

It's a pity that the House of Frasier did not bother to do some research and stand their ground, even if their slogan was rather lame.

As ever, in Nanny's Britain a little ignorance goes a long way!

Feel free to contact the House of Frasier via this link HOF.