back to article Beer hall putz: Regulator slaps northern pub over Nazi-themed ad

A pub in County Durham, England, has been rapped by the UK Advertising Standards Agency after three complaints about its "German Night" advert were upheld. According to the ASA ruling, the Buck Inn in Sadberge near Darlington made a Facebook post on September 8 last year, promoting its German Night special menu. It featured in …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Is it really the role of the state to regulate taste?

    1. Androgynous Cupboard Silver badge

      Replaced Nazi with black or jew in the original article and see if you can figure it out yourself.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        I don't think Graham Ze Chef could pass off as black.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Are you saying that black people and jews are as bad as Nazi's?

        You may not be aware, but the Nazi's are widely accepted to be bad eggs.

      3. Lysenko

        Replaced Nazi with black or jew in the original article and see if you can figure it out yourself.

        Nazis aren't a racial group. Try replacing "Nazi" with "Soviet" or "Maoist" and see if you can figure it out.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          >Nazis aren't a racial group. Try replacing "Nazi" with "Soviet" or "Maoist" and see if you can figure it out.

          I think the problem is it was described as a German night, therefore equating Germans with Nazis.

          Germans are pretty sick of war jokes and I'm not surprised. They did start it though.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            We wouldn't be making war jokes if their grandads had fought harder*.

            * With apologies to Jimmy Carr

            1. To Mars in Man Bras!
              WTF?

              Carr Crash

              >We wouldn't be making war jokes if their grandads had fought harder*.

              >* With apologies to Jimmy Carr

              I'd recheck your attribution. i find it hard to believe Jimmy Carr's ever said anything that funny.

              1. 's water music

                Re: Carr Crash

                I'd recheck your attribution. i find it hard to believe Jimmy Carr's ever said anything that funny.

                He's given HMRC staff a bit of a giggle in his time

              2. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: Carr Crash

                @To Mars in Man Bras!

                "I'd recheck your attribution. i find it hard to believe Jimmy Carr's ever said anything that funny."

                You're right, but I nicked this joke from an advert of "8 out of ten cats". He definitely made that particular joke.

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            you could argue it was the extreme punishment handed out after WW2 that led to the rise of the Nazi's...so it was our fault....but then we could argue it was the Germans fault for starting WW1, but then we could say that it was due to British and French imperialism combined with the aftermath of the Napoleonic wars, which caused issues in Germany and Italy promoting a wave of nationalism......and on and on...

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              I blame Franz Ferdinand though they were a pretty good band.

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Extreme punishment? The Marshall plan pumped billions into West Germany which allowed the nation to thrive. Ordinary Germans were not punished.

              The Soviet block, on the other hand, was plenty of punishment for millions of people and could be argued to be behind the rise of fascism, much of it in Eastern Europe.

              Look at Japan. Decades of occupation by the US didn't lead to a rise in fascism there.

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Judging by the context I'm guessing WW2 was a typo and he's talking about the Treaty of Versailles.

                That was a terrible punishment which obviously led to the rise of the Nazi's.

                1. Anonymous Coward
                  Anonymous Coward

                  "judging by the context I'm guessing WW2 was a typo and he's talking about the Treaty of Versailles."

                  Yes, typo...

                2. Anonymous Coward
                  Anonymous Coward

                  Could you

                  List which parts of the Treaty of Versailles you consider unfair to Germany?

                  The notion that the Treaty of Versailles was unfair to Germany was a lie invented by the National Socialists in Germany to create a sense of resentment which the Nazis exploited.

                  It's an amazing irony that this lie has passed into received wisdom, and gets trotted out by people who have no idea what they're talking about, and is generally unchallenged

                  1. veti Silver badge
                    Boffin

                    Re: Could you

                    The notion that the Treaty of Versailles was unfair to Germany was a lie invented by the National Socialists in Germany to create a sense of resentment which the Nazis exploited.

                    "Fair" requires a value judgement. As such, it cannot be called "a lie" unless we have explicit agreement on what constitutes "fairness". Your uncompromising use of the objective term "lie" to describe an inherently subjective claim "fair" is either silly or disingenuous.

                    The most contentious clauses were about reparations, which were orders of magnitude larger than anything that had ever been imposed before, and were impossible for the crippled German economy to meet. (Not unlike the terms the Germans themselves recently imposed on the Greeks.) The French eventually forgave the debt of Austria, Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria, but they held out for full repayment from the Germans. Was that "fair", in your understanding of the word?

                    Then there was the loss of Germany's colonies - not given independence, but ceded to the French and other allies. This was a substantial hit to the German economy at a time when it was already hobbled by the drain of the war effort and the loss of manpower, and it was being asked to pay billions of dollars in reparations. Was it fair to load all those strains on the economy at the same time?

                    At the end of the day, "fair" is what people agree it is. If one side feels so aggrieved that it's willing to fight - then the arrangement isn't "fair" enough, no matter how much the other side may like it.

                    1. EarthDog

                      Re: Could you

                      There were people in many of the countries including France, England, and the US who were horrified about the terms in Versailles. There were newspapers in those nations that railed against and predicted another over the matter.

                      1. jmch Silver badge

                        Re: Could you

                        In fact the punitive terms were opposed by US and UK, but insisted upon by France

                    2. Mooseman Silver badge

                      Re: Could you

                      "The most contentious clauses were about reparations, which were orders of magnitude larger than anything that had ever been imposed before, and were impossible for the crippled German economy to meet. "

                      Which, of course, they didn't, bar a couple of initial payments. The Germans have not imposed anything on the Greeks, please stop falling for that anti EU nonsense.

                      What pushed Germany towards fascism (and it was a close thing between that and communism) was the loss of face following the Versaiiles treaty (loss of colonies, the Polish corridor, restrictions on the armed forces etc) and the crippling effect of the Depression on the 1920's. Germany's colonies were not a great source of income, rather a source of pride that they too were an international power (although they had very little overseas territory). They were ripe for any demagogue who appeared to hold simple answers to all their problems (blame outsiders and jews, the "stab in the back" myth etc) to take over.

                      That all being said, it's sadly typical of the current little Englander mindset that anything German is automatically associated with WW2 or 1966.

              2. jmch Silver badge

                "The Marshall plan pumped billions into West Germany..."

                Although th quote you are responding to DID say punishment after WW2, I think it's clear from the post that the author actually ment the punishment after WW1.

                In fact the Marshall plan (and formation of EU) were instrumental in breaking that hundreds-year old cycle of tit-for-tat wars

                1. Wensleydale Cheese

                  The Marshall Plan

                  "The Marshall plan pumped billions into West Germany..."

                  and even more into the UK...

                  BBC History: The Wasting of Britain's Marshall Aid

                  Successive governments squandered billions of Marshall Plan Aid to support British world power pretensions, and so jeopardised the economic future of Britain.

                  1. Anonymous Coward
                    Anonymous Coward

                    Re: The Marshall Plan

                    Germany spent their Marshall Aid money on supply side reforms that Britain didn't get around to until the '80's.

                    Britain spent it on "stuffing their [GP's] mouths with gold", setting up a welfare state. Attlee's government didn't even get rid of rationing.

                2. Anonymous Coward
                  Anonymous Coward

                  Nothing to do with the fact that Germany was partitioned and heavily occupied by three great powers and France. Nothing to do with the Marshall plan. No, it was the EU, obviously.

              3. ElectricRook
                FAIL

                lack of reading

                The OP meant extreme punishment to Germany over WWI (which Germany didn't start). Extreme punishment led oppressed Germans to become politically scattered hence the fringe Nazi party won. Kind of like how Arnold Schwarzenegger won the California Governorship in a field of 28 candidates after Gray Davis was recalled for bungling the electric power grid.

                Many people down voted the OP, likely they didn't understand the history of how WWII started, which is based on how WWI ended, which is completely divorced from how WWI started, which is based on 19'th century European politics.

            3. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              "you could argue it was the extreme punishment handed out after WW21 that led to the rise of the Nazi's"

              The West would have done well to deal with Ludendorff and Hindenburg and stop their "stab in the back" myth. If it hadn't been Adolph, it's quite likely Ludendorff would have found someone else. He was already banging on about the master race, exterminating Russians, an empire in the East and "international" (i.e. Jewish) capital attacking Germany in 1916.

              If the West had really supported the Weimar republic instead of leaving it to be blamed for war reparations, WW2 might well not have happened. As ye sow, so shall ye reap.

          3. Stork Silver badge

            -or their grandparents did

            Really, blaming todays Germans for Nazism is about as fair as blaming todays Brits for the invention of concentration camps (Boer War AFAIK).

            Todays Germany is IMNSHO the major European country least likely to fall for a totalitarian state (yes, also with the last elections in mind) - they have tried it and are taught about it.

            1. SundogUK Silver badge

              Re: -or their grandparents did

              "Todays Germany is IMNSHO the major European country least likely to fall for a totalitarian state"

              They're running a close second to Sweden to be the first European nation to implement Sharia though.

          4. EarthDog

            That generation is dead. What if we had a poster of British soldiers bayonetting Zulus or a fat alcoholic plantation owner beating house boys?

          5. jmch Silver badge

            "They did start it though."

            Except that the "they" who started it are all dead now and none of the Germans alive today (and indeeed, most of the Germans alive at the time) did not 'start' anything

          6. Lysenko

            I think the problem is it was described as a German night, therefore equating Germans with Nazis.

            It isn't uncommon (particularly on the wrong side of the pond) to equate Russians with "Commies" without giving everyone the vapours and lots of Vodka branding relies on either Romanov or Soviet stylistic cues.

            Couple that with the Holodomor (deadlier than Hitler's effort all by itself) and the other 50-70M wiped out by the Sino-Soviets and I sense a double standard.

            Hitler's superlative sin was murdering so many white, western Europeans. His Communist colleagues mostly stuck to murdering easterners and "Asians", so Hitler gets promoted to be the head of the axis of evil rather than number three where he belongs.

            1. 's water music

              Hitler's superlative sin was murdering so many white, western Europeans

              I think it may be as much to do with being on the losing side of WW2 and therefore becoming the natural repository for blame, just like that contractor who left last week ends up being entirely responsible for the state of the project

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Stalin and Mao were protected for decades by the left, whereas everybody was happy to call Hitler a wrong'un.

              ( Even within the last few weeks, the leader of the Labour party went on a holiday to Mexico to visit^H "visit a cafe next to but not enter" the home of on of his idols, Leon Trotsky ).

              1. ElectricRook
                WTF?

                for the love of terrorism

                "( Even within the last few weeks, the leader of the Labour party went on a holiday to Mexico to visit^H "visit a cafe next to but not enter" the home of on of his idols, Leon Trotsky )."

                Wow.

                Good ol' "You'll take Communism or I'll give you Terrorism"--Lev Davidovich a.k.a. Leon Trotsky.

                1. Anonymous Coward
                  Anonymous Coward

                  Re: for the love of terrorism

                  Exactly. To pretend that Jeremy Corbyn is a moderate is an intentional deception.

          7. Hans 1
            Coat

            They did start it though.

            WWII together with the Ruskies, yes.... they did NOT start WWI, that was started by their Austrian buddies by declaring war on Serbia ... a fact that especially Brits often get wrong, that! But Ok ... and yes, I do think that it is inappropriate for anybody to link Germany of today with Nazism ...especially by people in the UK these days ... Brexit ethnic cleansing and shit ...

          8. PNGuinn
            Devil

            Germans are pretty sick of war jokes and I'm not surprised. They did start it though.

            Quite.

            And the last century or so of history shows that too many of them have been willing to deny or attempt to justify that history.

            The really frightening thing is that the lessons of that horrible past - and they go back to way before Adolf took power *democratically* in Germany - have not been learned in THIS country.

            Or at least conveniently forgotten by our current crop of leaders.

            In the nineteen thirties and forties that nightmare could not have happened here in the UK. (although there were far too many supporters of Hitler in high places in this country.) We still had enough people with a gut common sense that "they" were elected to serve and not dominate "us" and a perhaps somewhat nebulous love of the freedoms and justice that had been won over the centuries. Totalitarianism and violence was just not the British "way".

            Today, I'm not so sure. So many of the freedoms, checks and balances that were built into our political and judicial systems have been deliberately eroded in the last few years.

            As an incidental exercise for the reader - study National Socialist Party doctrine closely and see just how "politically correct" their dogma and propaganda really was - and where it led.

            1. EarthDog

              Re: Germans are pretty sick of war jokes and I'm not surprised. They did start it though.

              IIRC the Nazis ad at most 30% of the electorate. It then dropped at which point Hitler et. al. exploited loopholes and built coalitions with other ultraconservatives to gain power and ban opposition parties.

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Germans are pretty sick of war jokes and I'm not surprised. They did start it though.

              To be fair to British NAZI supporters* of the 30's, they didn't know quite how bad he was at the time.

              There was a rise in socialist parties across Europe, of which right thinking people were correctly terrified. I could certainly see people seeing him ( through what information they had at the time ) as being the lesser of two evils.

              * I never thought I'd be typing that when I woke up this morning.

            3. Mooseman Silver badge

              Re: Germans are pretty sick of war jokes and I'm not surprised. They did start it though.

              "And the last century or so of history shows that too many of them have been willing to deny or attempt to justify that history.

              The really frightening thing is that the lessons of that horrible past - and they go back to way before Adolf took power *democratically* in Germany - have not been learned in THIS country"

              A couple of points -

              1. Hitler was never democratically elected - he was appointed Chancellor by Hindenburg, and then rapidly outlawed all other opposition parties

              2. Germany has never shied away from it's WW2 past. Every German I know was taught about it at school, they are all without exception horrified and guilty, even those born decades after the events. Unlike in Austria where history simply stops in 1938 and carries on in 1945

              Mosely and his blackshirts were mildly popular here, supported by the Daily Mail and several high ranking figures, but the average bloke had no time for their strutting nonsense. Would it happen now? After 40 years of anti European smears and talk of "swarms" of foreigners invading us, culminating in the brexit foolishness, who knows?

              1. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

                Re: Germans are pretty sick of war jokes and I'm not surprised. They did start it though.

                Mosely and his blackshirts were mildly popular here, supported by the Daily Mail

                I'm shocked I tell you, shocked that such an upstanding organisation like the Daily Heil would ever support a facist organistion.

                Next you'll be telling me that they dislike immigrants!

            4. EarthDog

              Re: Germans are pretty sick of war jokes and I'm not surprised. They did start it though.

              He won an election on a plurality and then in the next elections lost some support. After that he some illegal methods to secure power, e.g. banning the opposition parties.

          9. Huw D

            "Germans are pretty sick of war jokes"

            Henning Wehn does the odd war joke.

          10. Rainer

            > Germans are pretty sick of war jokes and I'm not surprised.

            You get used to it, after a couple of decades.

        2. EarthDog

          "Nazis aren't a racial group." Not according to the Nazis.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "Is it really the role of the state to regulate taste?"

      Let's see - leopard skin shoes and leather trousers? A dress reported to have cost £56K. The State has strange tastes.

      1. Stumpy

        Let's see - leopard skin shoes and leather trousers? A dress reported to have cost £56K. The State has strange tastes.

        ... and that's just Philip Hammond

    3. PhilipN Silver badge

      Is it really the role of the state to regulate taste?

      Thank heavens, no. Satire (q.v.) has been thriving in Blighty for 4 centuries. Most people understand when something is satire within a nanosecond. However, set up an agency to monitor "satire" then give its (originally completely normal) senior officer a title and an objective his discretion goes out the window and he becomes completely po-faced. Tiresome. And stupid.

  2. goodjudge

    stable door / horse

    "The Buck Inn was ordered to not show the adverts again "

    So the ASA is ruling in January 2018 on a Facebook ad placed in September 2017 for an event that presumably took place in either September or October 2017... I'm sure the pub will find it easy to abide by that one.

    1. JLV

      Re: stable door / horse

      not to mention all the free publicity.

  3. John G Imrie

    Don't mention the war

    the Nazi image was inappropriate, both for trivialising the actions of the Nazis and the Second World War, and for appearing to link German culture intrinsically with Nazi Germany and the conflict.

    I hope no one at the ASA is ever given a copy of 'Allo 'Allo

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Don't mention the war

      >I hope no one at the ASA is ever given a copy of 'Allo 'Allo

      I don't think anyone deserves that!

    2. Ace Solo McCloud

      Re: Don't mention the war

      Oh no! Not the beloved 'Allo 'Allo!

      Fat chance of anything like that on TV in this day and age, everyone terrified of offending someone (something).

      1. Brenda McViking

        Re: Don't mention the war

        On the last EU project I was on, my French, Dutch and German colleagues all apparently watched Allo Allo and told me over dinner how much they liked it. I was a bit surprised at that one, but then again, it just ruthlessly mocks the incompetance of every country involved, dunnit?

    3. SVV

      Re: Don't mention the war

      Sigh. This dork of a landlord references Fawlty Towers a mere 40 years after it was first broadcast to promote his "German Night", along with the only thing he could think of about Germany, i.e. Nazis.

      Being of such low intelligence, he fails to realise that that episode is actually a hilarious demolition job from start to finish of just the sort of Fawltyish ignorance he himself is displaying. But no, all he remembers is the "silly walk" bit.

      And then he plays the victim-snowflake card! Oh woe, the "PC brigade" are being employed (?) to stop me! What was wrong with my previous hoot of a poster asking whether you'd punch a woman in the face if you don't get what you want? There's nothing funnier than that!

      I suppose the publicity will attract other people like him there as customers, nobly convincing themselves that they're striking a blow against political correctness, whilst keeping away many many others.

      1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: Don't mention the war

        Being of such low intelligence, he fails to realise that that episode is actually a hilarious demolition job from start to finish of just the sort of Fawltyish ignorance he himself is displaying. But no, all he remembers is the "silly walk" bit.

        Have you dismissed out of hand the possibility that you're not the only one who realises that, that the landlord himself realises it, that his customers also realise it and that something hilarious is a good way to promote a pub event?

      2. Sir Runcible Spoon
        Facepalm

        @SVV

        What was wrong with my previous hoot of a poster asking whether you'd punch a woman in the face if you don't get what you want? There's nothing funnier than that!

        I thought that was 'punch your ex in the face'? The article didn't say whether there was other information that would lead you to believe this was intended as a Man->Woman infraction. Women have ex's too you know.

  4. Tom 7

    Its drinking yards of ale that does it!

    Glug.

    1. Martin-73 Silver badge
      Pint

      Re: Its drinking yards of ale that does it!

      For god's sake, the germans were metric even in world war 2, so it would be metres of ale.

      1. PNGuinn
        Joke

        Re: Its drinking yards of ale that does it!

        It's not just that they were bloody metric, it wouldn't have been real ale, it'd likely have been bloody lager.

        No wonder they lost the bloody war.

  5. The Axe

    Mel Brooks

    The Producers by Mel Brooks is now effectively banned due to tbis ruling. No more Springtime for Hitler.

    Don't the ASA know human psychology and that making light of horrendous events is a way of coping. Banning such humour will harm the psyche of the population.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Mel Brooks

      Yup, the UK is turning into a nation of delicate snowflakes and DailyFail readers who feel it is their place to be offended on behalf of a delicate snowflake, just in case one isn't immediately available.

    2. israel_hands

      Re: Mel Brooks

      How the fuck is anything other than the original ad banned by this? Are you deliberately trying to blow this out of proportion just to have something to whine about?

      The original ad has been banned, for the reasons stated in the article. No other depictions of nazis are affected and, in case you didn't understand it from the name, the Advertising Standards Agency can only ban adverts.

      Stop getting your knickers in a twist and trying to make this into something it isn't. The original ad was cretinous and judging by the other ad run by the same individual mentioned in the article, the bloke running them is some sort of cunt anyway.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Mel Brooks

      "The Producers by Mel Brooks is now effectively banned due to tbis ruling. No more Springtime for Hitler."

      Of course it is not, any more than you can't buy the infinitely tedious Mein Kampf any more. It's the Advertising Standards Authority. Advertisers are held to a different standard from the arts because they are trying to influence you to buy stuff.

  6. phuzz Silver badge
    Pint

    Surely if you're running a pub and you're thinking about a German themed night, barmaids in skimpy lederhosen toting a massive pair of...steins would be the obvious images to use?

    1. A K Stiles

      re Barmaids in skimpy lederhosen

      You should probably also include some Herren in lederhosen or possibly dirndl for a bit of equality!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: re Barmaids in skimpy lederhosen

        So life is disappointing, forget it!

        In here life is beautiful

        The girls are beautiful

        Even the orchestra is beautiful

        And now presenting the cabaret girls!

        Each and everyone a virgin

        You don't believe me

        Well, do not take my word for it

        Go ahead, ask her!

        Ha ha ha ha

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: re Barmaids in skimpy lederhosen

          "So life is disappointing, forget it!"

          Outside it is winter, but in here it is so hot!

          Every night we have the battle to keep the girls from taking off

          All their clothing, so don't go away, who knows, tonight we may

          Lose the battle!

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: re Barmaids in skimpy lederhosen

        You should probably also include some Herren in lederhosen or possibly dirndl for a bit of equality!

        Depends on whether the target market is a Hun do or a Stalag party

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

      3. Alan Brown Silver badge

        Re: re Barmaids in skimpy lederhosen

        "You should probably also include some Herren in lederhosen"

        Someone pass the mind bleach,

        1. Francis Boyle Silver badge

          Re: re Barmaids in skimpy lederhosen

          "You should probably also include some Herren in lederhosen"

          You mean like this.

    2. Mr Dogshit
      Headmaster

      It's not called a stein

      It's a Maßkrug.

    3. EarthDog

      Maybe a few Dieter types of indeterminate gender and flexible sexuality dressed in black in the corner drinking schnapps and expounding on the bourgeois dreariness of Octoberfest and the utility of Nihilism.

      Now there's a German stereo type you hang a hat on!

  7. GrumpenKraut
    Facepalm

    How can anybody be offended by this ad?

    Arguably somewhat tasteless (not for me, by the way).

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

  8. To Mars in Man Bras!
    Facepalm

    The Best Policy for Everyone...

    ...is *never* to say *anything*, *anywhere*, *ever*. Just to be completely sure you don't give anyone any reason to take offence. Which, apparently, automatically makes you a criminal these days.

    And, just to pre-empt anyone objecting to this comment, I'll be on Twitter in five minutes, posting a grovelling apology.

    1. PNGuinn
      Flame

      I'll be on Twitter in five minutes, posting a grovelling apology.

      I find that Gratuitously Offensive in oh so many ways.

  9. Spanners Silver badge
    Mushroom

    I'm sure

    Most of us have come across people who do not feel that they have had a productive day unless they have complained about something.

    I suspect that the first thing that passes through their heads in the morning is something like "what am I going to get angry about today?"

    1. albaleo

      Re: I'm sure

      But in this case, is that person the one who complained about the ad or the one who posted it?

  10. my fingers stuck

    Don't mention the war

    i refuse to express my opinion in case someone somewhere finds it offensive

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Don't mention the war

      Then you will be in trouble for not agreeing with their opinion. The mantra these days is :"If you are not with us - then you are against us".

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Don't mention the war

        Funny that. They were pretty livid when Dubya said precisely the same thing.

      2. Ace Solo McCloud

        Re: Don't mention the war

        The worrying thing is these days if you're deemed against them, they're entitled to offend and be violent towards you, world has gone on its head.

    2. ravenviz Silver badge

      Re: Don't mention the war

      i refuse to express my opinion in case someone somewhere finds it offensive

      How very dare you!

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "[...] the first thing that passes through their heads in the morning is something like "what am I going to get angry about today?""

    They are probably already angry about something. What they choose to vent their anger about may be totally unrelated.

    1. Mark 85

      They are probably already angry about something. What they choose to vent their anger about may be totally unrelated.

      Probably angry because they had to get out of bed that morning and go to work... or not work. Then again, I'm retired now and since I was young lad, I've always grumpy in the morning. But never SJW grumpy.

  12. GruntyMcPugh Silver badge

    Just checked the place out on Google Street View. If I had dysentery I'd probably look for a better toilet, so I doubt a plate of German food would tempt me inside.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "I've got a GUT feeling"......

      "Bart, don't you think its a bit weird that the day after Uder disappeared they're having a German food themed day and are serving a mysterious meat called Uderbrotten?"

  13. Flakk
    Trollface

    Silly Craig Harker

    He should have known that only political activists are permitted to Photoshop faces onto Nazi bodies.

  14. tiggity Silver badge

    Maybe next time

    They should just have photos from a previous years German Night.

    Which, if certain royals fancy dress performances are anything to go by, probably includes a Nazi outfit or 2 . Or they could have had the photo of Liz II doing a Nazi salute*

    They would achieve German stereotype posting without hassle - as the photo would be purely showing previous revelers interpretation of a German night.

    * I am not implying any Royals attend this pub, just in a (more than usual) cheesed off with royals mood due to vomit inducing Harry & Meghan stuff in the media today shunting real news to the periphery.

    1. EarthDog

      Re: Maybe next time

      Not to mention they are German

  15. Blitheringeejit

    So he mentioned it once...

    ...and didn't get away with it?

  16. my fingers stuck

    dont mention anytbing.

    i like most easily led people nowdays am very open minded regarding the views and opinions of others, so long as they agree with mine...

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The problem here is bigger than one pub...

    72 years after the war's end we in Britain (and particularly England) bang on about it as if it was last week. We still stereotype the Germans as Nazis even though there are probably more people in Britain with Nazi sympathies than there are in Germany. The rest of Europe (you know, the bits that actually had to live under Nazi rule for four years) have long since let bygones be bygones and have moved onto a greater European co-operation, looking to the future and how to avoid the mistakes of the past.

    This (frankly, stupid) obsession with "How little Britain defeated the Nazi hordes" (even if it were true, which it isn't) paves the way for xenophobia, racism, religious intolerance and Brexit.

    As for someone who trivialises domestic violence by using it as a promotion, words are not enough to express my disgust.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The problem here is bigger than one pub...

      I think I've found one of the people who complained about the pub advert.

      "OMG NAZI JOKES = RACISM + BREXIT!!!!!1111"

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: The problem here is bigger than one pub...

        @Flatpackhamster.

        Oh dear, you really didn't read my post properly did you? If. like the rest of Europe, we had moved on from the war; the first thing to pop into our heads to advertise a German night would not be Nazis, comic or otherwise.

        And yes, the xenophobic stereotyping of foreigners does lead to racism and was a factor in Brexit.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: The problem here is bigger than one pub...

          Bugger off, Fritz.

        2. werdsmith Silver badge

          Re: The problem here is bigger than one pub...

          The rest of Europe (you know, the bits that actually had to live under Nazi rule for four years) have long since let bygones be bygones

          You haven't travelled much, have you?

        3. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: The problem here is bigger than one pub...

          @Anomalous Coward

          Yes, I did.

          1 - The rest of Europe has not 'moved on from the war'. When the Greeks tried to default on their debt there was a HUGE amount of 'Germans=Nazis' language in the Greek press. There is still plenty of it from the Poles too, and the Hungarians. I remember my trip to Budapest and talking to the locals you got the impression they still really had a problem with Nazis. The walls of the Jewish quarter still have the bullet holes in them. But by God did they hate the Soviets. They had no time for the Nazis but mention the Soviets and they were seriously angry.

          2 - If you are of the right generation, Allo Allo-style comic Nazis might be EXACTLY the theme you would be looking for. Knockwursts, transvestite Gestapo officers, and lots of lovely Nazis.

          3 - Well, with opinions like THAT about Brexit it's not surprising you're staying anonymous. Shameful but not even slightly shocking. But rather than abuse you let me offer you a friendly book recommendation which might open your eyes a little. It's called "The Road to Somewhere" and it's by David Goodhart. It might help you to stop treating everyone who voted for Brexit quite so awfully.

    2. EarthDog

      Re: The problem here is bigger than one pub that's all the Brits have left

      Recounting days of glory when there is nothing left.

      -No Empire

      -The Pound is not a global reserve currency anymore

      -The food in Britain has actually become edible

      -No more industry

      -No more Imperial measurements

      -Who is the global powerhouse? Germany.

      -Who saved Europe during the last financial? Of all people? Germany.

      It's Pax Germanica. Get used to it.

    3. Pompous Git Silver badge

      Re: The problem here is bigger than one pub...

      "72 years after the war's end we in Britain (and particularly England) bang on about it as if it was last week."
      The war didn't end with the armistice. In the 1960s the Nazis were still killing Brits with butterfly bombs.

      1. Dan 55 Silver badge

        Re: The problem here is bigger than one pub...

        The war didn't end with the armistice. In the 1960s the Nazis were still killing Brits with butterfly bombs.

        So the Nazi party was still a thing and the Luftwaffe were flying over the UK dropping butterfly bombs in the 1960s*?

        * Or, as Wikipedia would have it, 27th of November 1956 at the very latest.

        1. Pompous Git Silver badge

          Re: The problem here is bigger than one pub...

          "So the Nazi party was still a thing and the Luftwaffe were flying over the UK dropping butterfly bombs in the 1960s*?"
          They are your words, not mine. If you read the link you provide you will find that the most recent death from a WW2 butterfly bomb was in 1981. The most recent butterfly bomb find was "on 28 October 2009, by an 11-year-old boy in a secluded valley close to a heavily bombarded airfield." There's nothing quite so likely to focus attention on those who deployed such things as someone having their face and hands blown off.

          1. Mooseman Silver badge

            Re: The problem here is bigger than one pub...

            "If you read the link you provide you will find that the most recent death from a WW2 butterfly bomb was in 1981. The most recent butterfly bomb find was "on 28 October 2009, by an 11-year-old boy in a secluded valley close to a heavily bombarded airfield."

            They are still finding huge bombs in German cities from WW2. People are killed regularly.

            What is your point, that we are still at war?

            1. Pompous Git Silver badge

              Re: The problem here is bigger than one pub...

              "They are still finding huge bombs in German cities from WW2. People are killed regularly.

              What is your point, that we are still at war?"

              Indeed; that is what the evidence would seem to suggest. Perhaps we need a slogan: "Modern warfare, the gift that keeps on giving".

          2. Dan 55 Silver badge

            Re: The problem here is bigger than one pub...

            Those two were in Malta, which is now independent.

            Really difficult to understand where you're going with this if you don't explain.

    4. Moonunit
      Pirate

      Re: The problem here is bigger than one pub...

      Speaking as a colonial boy (with not-inconsiderable ties to Blighty) who has spent the past 8 and some-odd years in Germany, I have to agree with you for the most part (European 'project' aside - that is a separate beer discussion).

      This mindnumbingly inward obsession with "ze Nazis" and "how we beat the stuffing out of the Evil Huns" is somewhere around 50-60 years due for retirement. My experience of the Germans is that they are a pretty decent lot, with occasional scattered showers of rightwing idiots. My wife is German and loves Fawlty Towers - the episode in question causes no offence (if anything, it raises a good chuckle every time). What does cause offence is the grinding obsession that some seem to have with the tired cliche of "German = Nazi".

      We speak a mixture of English and German (aka "Denglisch") and regularly pillory each other on matters linguistic. Not to mention "ze bat puns" .. (say that with obligtaory faux Hun accent).

      Rant rave witter ... mürmel ...

      Now, consider "Dinner for One" - an absolute staple every year around Christmas. Never in German, only ever in the original English. Some Nazis ...

      Happily, I also lived in Blighty for six years or so, so know well that the idiot tendencies are not typical of most Blightians :-)

      (Can I say "colonial boy" without offending? Just asking .... heh heh ...)

      1. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

        Re: The problem here is bigger than one pub...

        Can I say "colonial boy" without offending?

        Yeah - but which colony? The naughty one that kicked us out 250 years ago, the slightly-less-naughty one that beats us at sports[1] or one of the nice ones?

        [1] Not exactly an exclusive club this.. depending on the sport of course.

  18. DavCrav

    " "Would you punch your ex in the face for a parmo*?" The ASA judged this advert was likely to be offensive for trivialising domestic violence."

    Just a minor point, but since it's someone's ex, surely it's no longer domestic violence, and just plain old violence?

  19. Tom 38
    Go

    Parmo

    I thought once I moved away from Durham, I'd have to forgo the pleasure of a real parmo, until about a year ago I was in my local rubbishy pizza take away place in East London, and they do proper Middlesboro parmo!

    Turned out, the guy grew up in Middlesboro before moving down to London, some local Mackems found out where he was from and insisted he put them on the menu. It's all posh like, he puts them on the menu as "Chicken Parmesan". Hah! Just found this review from a confused Italian on their website:

    as italian i was expecting the parmesan chicken to be baked chicken in tomato and oregano sauce with some pasmesan cheese on top.. it was actually deepfried chicken with one kg of oily mozzarella on top. disappointed: the taste wasn't bad and the portion was really big, but way too much fat. the salad with dressing should have a separate dressing, usually oilive oil, vinegar, or lemon.. it was instead covered with burger sauce!

    Proper parmo!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Parmo

      Lucky bastards. I can't even convince Lancashire chip shops to sell me chips and scraps.

      ( It leads to some funny looks if you ask a young / foreign person for them though )

      1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: Parmo

        "chips and scraps."

        You mean wi'bits?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Parmo

          Yes, scraps / bits.

          Some bollocks about health and safety rules. Though they still sell them in Yorkshire.

    2. PNGuinn
      Childcatcher

      Re: Parmo

      Deep fried in proper beef dripping or nasty carcenogenerours veggie fat?

      Enquiring minds etc ...

      ps If he was really trying to be posh shirley it'd be pheasant not bloody chicken.

    3. EarthDog

      Re: Parmo

      I'll have to get that recipe

  20. my fingers stuck

    anyone seen kelly

    the point that everyone seems to be missing is, the UK is being led by the nose by the PC gestapo rapidly towards an intolerant society, on the pretext that we are becoming a more tolerant country..

    1. Dan 55 Silver badge

      Re: anyone seen kelly

      Odd that a you claim that a tolerant society would think German food night means the advertising should show someone dressed up as a saluting Nazi or would find advertising featuring domestic violence funny.

  21. Richard Parkin

    Disappointing ...

    It disappointing that so many of you here can’t see the difference between a Nazi themed night and a German themed night. I thought you were better than that. It tends to prove the earlier comment that there are more Nazis here than in Germany nowadays. And yes, the brexiciders I spoke with before the referendum were all looking forward to getting rid of the “blacks”, not much mention of Poles etc.

    And BTW none of the brexiciders picked up on the “more immigration from outside Europe” promises - because being in the EU “discriminated against non-European immigrants/workers”.

    1. albaleo

      Re: Disappointing ...

      "It tends to prove the earlier comment that there are more Nazis here than in Germany nowadays"

      Not just nowadays perhaps? I've often thought that the revulsion we Brits express at the Nazi atrocities is really a kind of relief. We know it could just as easily have happened here.

      I have a German friend of my own age who likes to be updated weekly on whether Kraut or Hun is the current term of reference.

      1. Richard Parkin

        Re: Disappointing ...

        Yes, plenty of Nazi here pre-war. I’ve always liked the description of Brits etc who fought Spain as “premature anti-fascists” ;-)

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Disappointing ...

          "I’ve always liked the description of Brits etc who fought Spain as “premature anti-fascists” "

          Some British people went to fight for General Franco's insurgents (viz the fascists) trying to overthrow the legitimate government. One of the plot twists in Muriel Spark's "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" is that she was preaching to her crème de la crème that they should go and help General Franco. IIRC one girl did because she knew her brother was a volunteer there - but it turned out he was fighting against Franco.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Disappointing ...

      "And BTW none of the brexiciders picked up on the “more immigration from outside Europe” promise"

      Indeed - the then Tory minister Priti Patel campaigned for Leave by promising to replace EU immigrants with those more entitled by history from the Indian subcontinent. Future non-EU trade deals are already being signalled as having demands for the relaxing of the UK job market for nationals from places like Australia and India.

      My relatives in BREXIT Stoke on Trent are long used to Polish and Ukrainian immigrants. Many stayed after the war and our school pals seemed no different from us - apart from strangely spelled names that were soon Anglicised. The returning army often brought back new wives from France, Holland, Belgium, and Germany.

      Assimilation usually seems to be pretty complete after three generations. My Hindu friends who arrived as children in the Ugandan diaspora seem very English - as are their their children will probably marry outside their ethnic community.

      What did seem to be a festering problem in Stoke in recent years was the feeling that the more recent immigrants from the Indian subcontinent were not integrating - forming their own tight-knit localities of different cultural practices.

  22. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    Trivialising?

    Heaven forbid the ASA should encounter any genuine wartime (I or II) cartoons.

    1. Bowlers

      Re: Trivialising?

      Oh I don't know. See WW2 Jane cartoons, very educational to a young lad of the time.

  23. EarthDog

    Hilarious

    This thread went from zero to Godwin's law even before the first post.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Hilarious

      IIRC Godwin's Law is not applicable when the article's subject is something to do with the Third Reich.

      1. David 132 Silver badge
        Joke

        Re: Hilarious

        IIRC Godwin's Law is not applicable when the article's subject is something to do with the Third Reich.

        For obvious reasons.

        1. EarthDog

          Re: Hilarious

          This is about a British pub and there are plenty of references to Brits acting as Nazis. So I'll argue my point holds.

  24. StuntMisanthrope

    No fighting this is ze pump room!

    ASA, meet Streisand, quite fancy an @parmo and the ex always liked a bit of slap and tickle. #minesasteinbitte

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If I want Nazi-Themed ads

    I'd just read the Daily Mail.

  26. ZippedyDooDah

    Parmos are made from chicken, not pork. Well they are in the North East anyway, their birthplace.

  27. Wisteela

    Sounds like the landlord is a complete cock

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