Russia’s Competition Watchdog Sides with an Africa-Born Student
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Anti-monopoly authorities of Ulyanovsk have initiated a case on the violation of the publicity law against the RSN advertising agency. The suit followed an application from an ethnic African, a student of the Ulyanovsk State University, who considered a car service station’s outdoor advertising containing the words “We’re working like Negroes” to be racially offensive. The Ulyanovsk Territorial Department of the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service has suited RSN for unethical advertising. The advertising agency made a billboard with the phrase “We’re working as Negroes” for the Yuzhny car service station. Shortly after that, an Africa-born student, who asked to be unnamed, appealed to the anti-monopoly agency against the advert which he believes to be racially offensive. Ivan Spiridonov from Ulyanovsk’s competition watchdog says that the advertising agency violated Article 8 of On Advertising law banning unethical advertising. Local anti-monopoly authorities reported that the case was opened under the article carrying the fine of up to 500 minimal wages (or 50,000 rubles). The case will be considered at a meeting of the Ulyanovsk Territorial Department of the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service on April 28. |