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ANZ Bank didn’t consult community groups about slur-filled advertisement

ANZ Bank has touted its support for the LGBTIQA+ community as it tries to rid the world of hate speech, but many are not happy with an advert they used to do it.

Jack Gramenz
5 min read
February 22, 2020 - 12:55AM
ANZ Bank "Love Speech" ad slammed over slurs

A new online ad campaign from ANZ Bank aimed at getting people to stop verbally abusing members of the LGBTIQA+ community has received a widespread public backlash.

The Love Speech campaign is timed to coincide with Sydney Mardi Gras, as well as a new Google Chrome extension that proactively blocks hate speech against those identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, asexual and others

The Hurt Blocker extension scans the text of pages and replaces derogatory terms with emoji renderings of love hearts and rainbows instead.

“For me, as a member of the LGBTIQA+ community I think the extension is really important because people like me see that negative language every day online, and it’s a really creative way of being able to block out that language that is really hurtful to our community,” ANZ Bank’s pride network chair Darren Sibson told news.com.au.

The extension can be customised to filter out any words users don’t want to see, not just ones the developers have identified as slurs.

ANZ Bank said the extension doesn’t collect any data on its users beside the standard data on metrics and analytics, which is collected by Google and not the bank.

Unfortunately the blocker doesn’t work on videos, aside from their captions.

This would mean even if users had the extension installed they would still be confronted with the slurs in one of the bank’s new Love Speech campaign ads, aimed at getting people to stop using the slurs in the first place.

The ad features several members of the LGBTIQA+ community (whom Mr Sibson assured us were paid for their time and experiences) introducing themselves, not by their names, but by the awful abuse that has been hurled at them throughout their lives.

WARNING: THE BELOW VIDEO AND OTHER EMBEDDED CONTENT CONTAINS GRAPHIC LANGUAGE, INCLUDING HATE SPEECH

The ad received a backlash online, with one user saying “if you insist upon continuing with this campaign could you at least add a content warning for homo/transphobic slurs.”

“Because my heart sank suddenly hearing “fa**ot” unexpectedly. And if I’m going to hear the word that has tormented me for years, I’d like to be warned.”

Another said “Thank you for painting us as victims @ANZ_AU - so empowering.”

“That’s a really brutal video, folks. Someone else mentioned it contained slurs and I was still unprepared for it. You must understand that’s like a punch in the face for some people. If you have to use it, it really needs a warning,” one Twitter user said.

ANZ replied that it aims “to support the creation of a society where the talents, experience and perspectives of our staff and customers are valued, regardless of their gender identity, race, age or sexual orientation.”

The bank told another user: “we considered a range of community views and sought necessary classifications and ratings before sharing online. We’re trying to show the impact hurtful language can have on individuals. Even when they aren’t intended to be offensive, words can hurt."

Distaste for the Big Four banks, including ANZ, was already prevalent before the Royal Commission, including on this Toowoomba man’s roaming protest.
Distaste for the Big Four banks, including ANZ, was already prevalent before the Royal Commission, including on this Toowoomba man’s roaming protest.
The bad behaviour of our banks that was exposed in that commission certainly hasn't improved their image.
The bad behaviour of our banks that was exposed in that commission certainly hasn't improved their image.

Mr Sibson said: “People outside the LGBTIQA+ community are a large target audience, we want to raise awareness and stop people using hurtful language.

“We always knew this campaign was going to be confronting and we were prepared for the negative responses but we really wanted to start the conversation.”

Start a conversation it did.

Aside from the rote reactions of the perpetually outraged, there were also members of the LGBTIQA+ community the ad is attempting to support who were annoyed about the tactic and those used in other ads that form part of the campaign.

Some of the posters ANZ has distributed as part of its Love Speech campaign
Some of the posters ANZ has distributed as part of its Love Speech campaign

Another user railed against the bank's “pink washing”.

“Pink washing” is when an organisation, brand or company seeks to make itself appear as a progressive advocate for the LGBTIQA+ community, in order to downplay its otherwise poor behaviour.

Mr Sibson refuted allegations that was what ANZ Bank was doing, however.

“This is not new for ANZ, this is something we’ve been doing for more than 14 years and that’s how long we’ve been supporting Mardi Gras, we have a pride network that challenges the bank everyday on inclusion.”

“As a gay man working here I’m absolutely proud of the achievements we’ve made internally at the bank, my hope is that I don’t get called these names on the street anymore.”

But still others didn’t think the ad was a problem and would be useful for its target audience.

NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby convener Jack Whitney told news.com.au he found the campaign and the response to it “really interesting”.

“I was recently talking with a colleague about the importance of language in our community, because as a group of people, we have been at the blunt end of it — often as kids growing up in our schools, towns and cities.”

He said the ANZ video touched on what is an “important and very real issue” but “it does appear to be mismatched alongside the Google Chrome Extension and ad campaign which is about reducing hate speech in the public space, not spreading it.”

He also doubted how effective it would be on its target audience.

“I am sceptical that such a video will do anything to change those who use hate speech, but it is a reminder to allies that our community does experience hate in 2020 — bullying in schools, workplace discrimination, barriers in healthcare, especially for the trans and intersex community.”

Former CEO of Mardis Gras Terese Casu, drag queen and entertainer Courtney Act, and ANZ pride network leader Darren Sibson.
Former CEO of Mardis Gras Terese Casu, drag queen and entertainer Courtney Act, and ANZ pride network leader Darren Sibson.

Mr Sibson echoed the sentiment, and said despite progress that’s been made hate speech is still a very prevalent issue for the community.

“We still encounter homophobic slurs daily, one of my friend’s friends is still getting abused at [Melbourne’s] Southern Cross station. The reality is that eight in 10 Aussies have told us they are still the victim of hurtful language, we want to show the impact hurtful language can have on the LGBTIQA+ community,” he said, adding that there was a spectrum for offence.

“There are some words that people might not think are intentionally hurtful, all the way up to the slurs.”

ANZ Bank is a proud sponsor of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Picture: Jeffrey Feng
ANZ Bank is a proud sponsor of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Picture: Jeffrey Feng

ANZ Bank’s internal research found 69 per cent of Australia’s LGBTIQA+ community have been called a slur in the past year.

But aside from consultation with its own internal pride network and a “briefing” to the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras event the bank sponsors, ANZ Bank didn’t consult with any external groups representing the community ahead of time.

Mr Whitney said that was “a bit disappointing”.

“A lot of community members have asked about whether they did engage the community and felt quite surprised that — if they hadn’t — that they would put together such a video.”

The Love Speech campaign ad has been criticised more than it's been praised.
The Love Speech campaign ad has been criticised more than it's been praised.

Mr Sibson said the bank “did get the appropriate classifications from social media platforms about putting something like this out”.

“The video obviously includes those slurs but it’s designed in a way to bring attention to the problem that we’re facing and the names we are called quite regularly as well as to ignite a conversation about that hurtful language,” he said.

News.com.au has asked Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras about what the “briefing” from their main sponsor entailed and is awaiting a response.

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/social/anz-bank-didnt-consult-community-groups-about-slurfilled-advertisement/news-story/75f88ce488ca299f627732ed5aac0ed1