What do people think about this? Admittedly the programme hasn't been aired yet, but, from the quotes, I can see no real problem. It probably wasn't too smart to say it but, that said, she was probably correct to a degree in what she said.... in some way, she might have said what others were thinking.

You just have to look at all the posters and ads that appear in our society to see that campaigns containing only black and ethnic minority models (when there's more than one model) are not used very often..... the reason for this should certainly be debated more widely in society, but perhaps not in this individual Apprentice task. Whilst it's not the best indictment of the UK, she was probably only correctly interpreting general opinions and prejudices.

Let's tackle the real examples of racism and not get hung up on un-pc comments.

Rant over..... it would be good to hear the views of others on this.

I have my thoughts on the matter, but I'll reserve my comments till I see this show. Knowing DS, I suspect "PC gone mad" would be used often in this disucssion.

It would be good to know what on earth you're talking about.

It is more Thought Police nonsense. They are never satisfied - if it had been two white models, the ad would have ben "racist". they demand some kind of quota representation and then when the quota is overfilled, as in the ad or Premier League football, anyone, who points out the illogicality is a "racist". You cannot demand equal treatment on merit and then demand quotas at the same time.

Would it be reasonable to ask what was actually said ?

Who exactly are these 'they' you're referring to?

Any one got any idea about what was said?

Anyone know what this is about at all?

There are many adverts with only white people and "they" haven't complained . . .

Just turned on my Tv now.

Velvet ad - no minorities. "They" haven't complained.
Orange advert - no minorities, but there is a green person. I guess that's why they didn't complain.
KFC ad - no minorities."They" haven't complained.
Elvive ad - no minorities. "They" haven't complained.

I could go on, but it is obvious that you choose to be close-minded and ignorant.

"If we have two ethnic minorities, it will be like we are advertising for The Ethnic Minorities Sportswear Club. I think we’ve got to have a white person in there as well. There’s nothing wrong with Noorul, but we’ve got Mona." Fellow team member Debra was quick to point out her mistake, saying, "How can we say that? I am gobsmacked we can say that." However, Yasmina was not having any of it, simply biting back with, "Well I’m Iranian so I can say it. I am just being honest. Debra can **** off."

http://www.heatworld.com/Article/996...The-Apprentice!

Thank you, cybergirl3.

What ?!

So if you're Iranian, you can say what you like ?

I still don't get it. Where's the controversy, isn't she Iranian herself?

I don't think being from an ethnic minority group means that you can't be racist (separate argument probably), but the "controversy" stems from the fact that there were a lot of websites yesterday running the "story". True, we haven't seen the programme yet, but I'm assuming the quotes are accurate. It probably IS quite controversial to say that you don't want a white plus an ethnic minority person in an ad instead of two ethnic minotiries. I wish it wasn't "controversial" and that people could say things like that, as I'm absolutely sure that she was just being ad-savvy rather than racist.

I was just wondering what everyone thought.

My point is if you are from an ethnic minority, you are probably going to have an opinion on how ethnic minorities are shown in adverts, but as you rightly say we haven't seen the show yet.

Will wait to make clear judgement after the show.

She's been watching too much Omid Djalili. I'll reserve judgement until I see the whole show.

Precisely - if it had been two white actors and someone had said "oh, we must put a minority in there", there would not have been a problem. People like Debra and a few posters here have been brainwashed into making an issue out of nothing.

No, no, no, no, no!!!!! If it had been two white models, then no one would have said anything!!

Please take a moment to think about this before replying.

Tbh I can't see a problem with what she said She wasn't saying it to be spiteful.

Exactly! But the fact that the media has vortexed this into some sort of issue was why I chose to make the thread. It truly is pc gone mad and the sad thing is that it detracts from focussing on REAL racism in our society.

Let's stamp out the real racists. How good would THAT be????????????

Well it's a reality show and people can and do show their prejudices/intolerance - even more so if they're under pressure or if someone is unreasonable to them. We've yet to see the show but I'm guessing Yasmina didn't want the poster to be too biased towards a certain ethnic group - she wanted the poster to represent black and white people. I don't think she was being racist, just pragmatic - trying to be practical. Unless the point of the challenge was to show a certain ethnic group, and I don't think it was, it makes sense to have different types of people being represented on a poster.

This is hardly a Jade Goody/Shilpa Shetty controversy although I'm sure the Daily Mail will do its best to make it a huge controversy!

I think Yasmina has quite a strong 'don't give a damn what people think' personality. She might be a strong contender for the job. She comes over as a tough cookie! I think we have to consider her one of the favourites. Having just said that, she'll probably be fired soon and prove me totally wrong!

As you have been brainwashed with all this "ism" stuff, it is not I, who needs to do any thinking. The population of UK is still about 93% white and most of us do not even see the colour issue - it is the Thought Police, who make an issue of it and tyhe brainwashed, who display no capacity to think.
Last edited by Davemba : 08-04-2009 at 12:27

For a start just because someone is from an ethnic minority background they are not allowed to make racist comments - so Yasmina should not say 'oh I am Iranian I am allowed to talk like that' because that is completely ridiculous.
However, her comment is not racist and not even unPC, all she said was that she wanted a mixture of races in a picture, what is wrong with that?
If I design a poster for my job I choose the best pictures regardless of race but at the same time it would look weird if only one race was pictured, there is nothing wrong with a mixture.

It will be interesting if the comment is brought up in the boardroom....

personally, I just think she was reflecting the view of most advertising executives - can you think of any adverts on tv which includes only actors of an ethnic minority? Not saying whether that is right or wrong, but it seems to be a marketing principle - which would suggest it is a good judgement call business-wise....

*ducks for cover*