Inappropriate comments in advertising email from www.yankee.ie?

Plek Trum

Hi all,
got a special offer email from www.yankee.ie advertising their deals / offers etc.
At the end, they included the following:

"Indian guy was slapping rug against 2nd floor apartment balcony. Local wag shouts up "Engine Trouble?"

I'm very open minded and can take a joke but I just dont get the point of them including it. It has the potential to insult and offend people, especially considering they don't know who the people are they are emailing and their race.

Anyone else find it inappropriate and senseless?

I emailed them my thoughts and got the following response:
"Yes, point taken, but it was something I actually witnessed last week and the guy in question took about 10 minutes to stop laughing. - But I can see how some may take it the wrong way"

I wasn't aware there was a right way to take it when attempting to entice business in such an unprofessional manner :rolleyes:

Just a thought, I'd be interested in hearing yours on it...

Plek Trum

Aha - I see yankee.ie have cropped up here before...
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056000278&highlight=yankee

smelltheglove

:oAm I dim, I honestly dont get it.....?

That aside, not knowing other peoples sense of humours it isnt actual a great business practice.

chicken fingers

Plek Trum wrote: »

I'm very open minded and can take a joke

I disagree.

littlejp

smelltheglove wrote: »

:oAm I dim, I honestly dont get it.....?

That aside, not knowing other peoples sense of humours it isnt actual a great business practice.

Magic Carpet

tricky D

smelltheglove wrote: »

:oAm I dim, I honestly dont get it.....?

That aside, not knowing other peoples sense of humours it isnt actual a great business practice.

Well for starters, the land of flying carpets isn't India, close but to the west.

Joke is fine for the pub or similar, but for a marketing email, it's stupid. Some moron in marketing needs the boot.

dudara

Plek Trum wrote: »

Aha - I see yankee.ie have cropped up here before...
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056000278&highlight=yankee

That's not relevant to this discussion. TBH - this isn't a Consumer Issue anyway. Perhaps better suited to Humanities?

dudara

Plek Trum

Plek Trum wrote: »

It has the potential to insult and offend people, especially considering they don't know who the people are they are emailing and their race.

Not people who don't have too much free time

Anyone else find it inappropriate and senseless?

No

Plek Trum

Interesting replies and good to hear - I found the line quite pointless to be honest. Its not about having a sense of humour (or lack thereof as some people may think :rolleyes:)

The point is whether it has the potential to offend and whether it's appropriate in a business sense... Glad to see that some folk think the same.

Zombrex

I imagine this is a sort of "Joke of the Day" type thing (unless the special offers had some connection to India).

Despite being rather inaccurate (Persia is a few hundred miles west of India), I don't think the joke is offensive.

Dades

I'd agree with what has been suggested.

That joke was more inaccurate than inappropriate.

yankee.ie

Just saw the thread and just wish to comment.

Yes - it may have been written in haste, but it was more to do with the wit of the young Dublin chap walking by than anything else.

I do know the the guy that the comment was aimed at, so therefore I know he's Indian and even the area he's from (Rajahstan) and he thought it was the funniest comment he'd heard.

The funny part was very much meant to be what the young fellow said and his quick wit - Probably because I see no difference between nationalities / colour / religion that I did not see that the comment could in anyway cause offence.

Anyway just to be 100% sure of being PC I'll be sticking to what I normally do and give little "amazing but true" funny facts from various parts of the world. - It lightens up the emails a bit, and with so much bad & boring news out there, we try to throw a smile at the end of our mails.

such as
Did you know, a lump of pure gold the size of a matchbox can be flattened into a sheet the size of a tennis court!

Californian state law states that no more than 3000 sheep can be herded down Hollywood Blvd. at any one time.

Freddie59

yankee.ie wrote: »

Just saw the thread and just wish to comment.

Yes - it may have been written in haste, but it was more to do with the wit of the young Dublin chap walking by than anything else.

I do know the the guy that the comment was aimed at, so therefore I know he's Indian and even the area he's from (Rajahstan) and he thought it was the funniest comment he'd heard.

The funny part was very much meant to be what the young fellow said and his quick wit - Probably because I see no difference between nationalities / colour / religion that I did not see that the comment could in anyway cause offence.

Anyway just to be 100% sure of being PC I'll be sticking to what I normally do and give little "amazing but true" funny facts from various parts of the world. - It lightens up the emails a bit, and with so much bad & boring news out there, we try to throw a smile at the end of our mails.

such as
Did you know, a lump of pure gold the size of a matchbox can be flattened into a sheet the size of a tennis court!

Californian state law states that no more than 3000 sheep can be herded down Hollywood Blvd. at any one time.

TBH I don't see the problem. It's a fairly harmless joke. Time for society to get a grip really.