Banned, golliwog press advert for Enid Blyton souvenir shop
AN Enid Blyton gift shop has been censured over an advertisement featuring a golliwog.
Advertising watchdogs acted following complaints over the ad for the Ginger Pop shop which appeared in a local paper.
The shop owner, who is of mixed race, has made it her mission to challenge the idea that the character, which featured in Blyton’s original Noddy books, is racist.
Viv Endecott insists the golly is a magical, heroic and aspirational role model.
However, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) disagreed and effectively banned the character.
The ad invited people to visit the shop in Corfe Castle, Dorset, and get a tea-towel which featured an illustration of a golly character holding a pint of ginger beer.
The tea-towel carried a number of slogans including ‘English Freedom’, ‘freedom of speech’, ‘common law’ and ‘decency’ which appeared in red.
Other words such as ‘slavery’, ‘sharia law’ and ‘political correctness gone mad’ were printed in grey.
However, Mrs Endecott said she did not accept that the golliwog represented negative racial stereotypes.
In June, she said: ‘It is about time the English started celebrating our culture. The golliwog is a part of our culture and no one needs to be offended by it.’
The ASA said: ‘We considered that many people were likely to view the character as representing negative racial stereotypes, and its prominent inclusion in a press ad was likely to cause serious or widespread offence. We also contherefore sidered that the inclusion of the words “English Freedom” in the ad was likely to contribute to that offence.
‘In combination with the image it could be read as a negative reference to immigration or race. We concluded that the ad was likely to cause offence.’
Mrs Endecott argued that golliwogs, which once appeared on Robertson’s marmalade badges, were part of Britain’s heritage.
The fictional character was created by Florence Kate Upton in the 19th century.
Mrs Endecott said: ‘You cannot ban bits of history you don’t like. History is part of our country.
‘I sell thousands upon thousands of golliwogs in the shop every year. There are so few places to get one thee days because most people are too frightened to sell them.’
But Adnan Choudry, the chief officer of Dorset Race Equality Council, said: ‘Golliwogs don’t just offend black people, they’re offensive to people of any race.’
‘Gollies are part of our culture’