Australian sportswear company Skins has set out to provoke conversation on what it takes to be great in sport with “Beyond Reason”, a TV advert in which African American athletes talk about their natural prowess. “We’re faster, we got more skill, got the stamina. Superior athletes. You know when it comes to the physicality of a sport, the African Americans have the advantage. It just comes naturally to us. You got to look at our ancestry. We were born warriors. Natural instinct. It’s like a killer mentality. If you look at the way a black male is built, more muscle, stronger, If you want to be like us….”
Click on the image below to play the Beyond Reason video.
There is some doubt as to whether the Beyond Reason ad will be allowed on television screens in the UK and USA. The statements from the video come through as racist, inflammatory and needlessly provocative. Many who have seen the ad online remark on how offensive the ad would be if it was a group of white men and women saying the same things.
Beyond Reason Credits
Beyond Reason was developed for Skins at The Furnace, Sydney, by creative director Rob Martin Murphy, art director Paul Fenton, agency producer John Lamble.
Filming was shot by director Jess Bluck via Revolver, Sydney, and Biscuit, Los Angeles, with executive producer Michael Ritchie and director of photography Wyatt Troy. Editor was Stewart Reeves at Guillotine, Sydney. Post production was done at Animal Logic, Sydney. Colourist was Ben Eagleton at Bean Colour, Sydney. Music was arranged at Nylon Studios, Sydney.
i can’t see what the fuss is about. i don’t find this racist at all. since when has it been racist to state the facts? the facts are the facts. have a look at the record books. African Americans are superior athletes, on the whole.
i’ve shown this to a couple of friends and we all agree. seems like a clever creative to me.
also, where are the comments from in the copy above? i am the first to comment on this site and there are supposedly many people saying it is racist. i checked youtube and found it there. i saw there were 730 views and 3 comments. does this make it a big problem? i think you guys are trying to make a mountian out of a molehill
the only people that i could see being upset about this ad would be white supremecists
BTW i am white, but not a supremecist.
Your a bloody politically correct homo. If there was an add with white people talking about how clever or civilised they are then it would be called racist. Some black people only have muscles because they train at the gym to feel cool make themselves look “tough and gangster” which is scummy and white people dont bother with that because they are civilised not savages
The ad is racist because it’s claiming that Black people are superior athletically. Not all of them are.
Pride, well done on showing us just how uncivilized you are.
Ads like this only lead to more segregation between races. Its is the most racist ad I have ever seen on TV, it am suprised it made it to air, but then again moral boundaries are constanly challenged in todays society.
The reality if is was another race lets say white it would be making headlines. Why dont we make an ad on facts about black on white crime stats? No thats not PC.
I will be making complaints to the company and the advertising standards board.
I feel that the advertisement is racist. I was genuinely offended by its content. Saying that a race of people are genetically superior to another is unacceptable. I think that if the commercial showed “white” people claiming some kind of superior abilities (whether they be physical, intellectual or cultural) inherited from their ancestors there would be loud, angry complaints from certain factions of the community who often seem to be complaining about racism. The governing bodies with the relevant authority should ban this advertisement from televison and ensure it never sees the light of day again.
“We’re smarter, we invented more technology, got more power. Superior culture. You know when it comes to the success of a civilisation, the anglo-saxons have the advantage. It just comes naturally to us. You got to look at our ancestry. We were born conquerors. Natural instinct. It’s like a killer mentality. If you look at history, more victories, conquests. If you want to be like us….”
Good call Andrew. If the ad said that, despite it being true, it would be slammed by the public as being racist.
Yes, good call, all of you who think the ad is inoffensive. As of 17th April, the ad was banned in NZ as it stereotypes races, suggests that Black-skinned people are “only” good at sports, and creates an us-and -them mentality.
Yes, the ad uses scientific studies to back up its claim that our African and Afro-Carribean cousins are physically more suited to athletics, but that doesn’t stop them saying it in a way that’s calculated to offend.
Its a shame that we can’t rise above the “my dad’s bigger than your dad” mentality when it comes to viewing other people. We have far more in common than we have apart.
Just another example of the bias when it comes to what’s racist and what isn’t. If this was a commercial about white people claiming to be superior in any way, all hell would break loose.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!
pause
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!
At Andrew’s statement.
Man you really captured that gross hypocrisy of all those PC faggots with terminal liberal pyschosis who think there is nothing wrong with this racist add.
God Damn it, it’s really hard for these ignorant faggots to call a spade a spade.
How does this add state facts?, two quotes from the black “athletes” in that video, “we got heavy bones” and “were stronger”. Is this some kind of joke?, these are uninformed and amateur black athletes that are pretending to be scientists. I’ll give you some facts on black dominance in sports that require “strength” or “muscular structure”.
Worlds Strongest man competition- Current Champion- Žydrūnas Savickas, (No black has ever won it).
Boxing – Current World champs – WBC- Vitali Klitschko IBF, WBO, WBA- Wladimir Klitschko WBA- Alexander Povetkin
Olympic Weightlifting current gold medalists – Super Heavyweight- Matthias Steiner Heavyweight- Andrei Aramnau
Olympic freestyle Wrestling 120kg Gold medalist- Artur Taymazov.
Stating the facts? I don’t think so