Arts ‘retrain’ advert was crass, admits Dowden
A GOVERNMENT minister has expressed his regret for a “crass” advertisement that suggested ballet dancers will need to retrain.
The poster, designed to promote retraining in cybersecurity, featured a dancer called Fatima tying up her pumps, and suggested she could “reboot” her career.
Oliver Dowden, the Culture Secretary, said it had not been devised by his department and reiterated his support for the arts. He tweeted: “To those tweeting re #Fatima. This is not something from DCMS & I agree it was crass. This was a partner campaign encouraging people from all walks of life to think about a career in cyber security.”
A Government source suggested there was no political sign-off on the poster and Downing Street admitted that the messaging was “not appropriate”. The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “This was part of a campaign to encourage people from all walks of life to think about a career in cybersecurity. But this particular piece of content was not appropriate and has been removed from the campaign. Cyber First is a long-running government campaign, which is there to encourage people from all walks of life to think about a career in cyber security.”
The advert, part of the Governmentbacked “Rethink. Reskill. Reboot” initiative, showed a ballet dancer tying her shoes, next to the text: “Fatima’s next job could be in cyber (she just doesn’t know it yet).”
The advert is one of several posted on the website of QA, a technology skills business. The t raining company removed the poster of Fatima from its site yesterday and replaced it with one featuring a barista called Justin. It followed criticism from the arts world, with Darren Hayes, singer in the band Savage Garden, urging young people to stick with their dreams. “Making joy is our job. Reboot your terrible advertisement,” he said.
Rachel Sheridan, a casting director, said: “The Government is saying they have no plan or interest to save the arts. It’s beyond insulting.”
It came after Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, denied encouraging workers in the struggling arts industry to retrain. Mr Sunak insisted he was talking generally about the need for some workers to “adapt” and suggested there would be “new opportunities” available for those who could not do their old jobs.
According to Arts Council England, the arts and culture industry contributes more than £10 billion a year to the economy, with £3 spent on food, drink, accommodation and travel for every £1 spent on theatre tickets.