littlesteps.eu radio ad 2 'Dublin' women discussing diet of their children?

I think they are the most condescending, ill thought out ads I have ever heard, both the male and the female versions.
They are definitely attempting to achieve a flat Dublin accent effect. They are most likely to be equity actors and are certainly, to my ear, not using anything close to their own accents.

Whoever wrote them needs a wake up call and who ever approved them
in littlesteps.eu should be transferred to another department (I'm assuming sacking is not an option:).

On a final note look at our health minister, no flat Dublin accent there........
 
lightswitch said:
They are definitely attempting to achieve a flat Dublin accent effect. They are most likely to be equity actors and are certainly, to my ear, not using anything close to their own accents.
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Well that's generally what actors do :confused:

I haven't heard this advert - is it that it is annoying or that it is inauthentic that is the problem for everyone? Dublin certainly isn't unique in being represented by poorly mimicked accents in the media.

Accents from outside Dublin represented on radio or TV ads tend to be either 1) Cork - and usually badly done. or 2) "country" - whatever that means - and usually from nowhere in particular by the sounds of it.
 
Caveat, you would have to hear it to believe it. I haven't actually heard it over the past few days so its possible they got a lot of complaints and pulled it. I dont have a dublin accent myself but it gave me a very uncomfortable feeling, a bit like if they had used any other "ethnic" accent. An ad like this one needs a generic accent otherwise it can be perceived as suggesting that one particular group are the ones being targeted.
 
I have a Dublin accent and am certainly not lower socio economic class.

The point about these accents are they are no accent - they are just so odd, nobody speaks like that, they are a false flat Dublin accent.

I dont think Dubs would be offended, they would just say, what a rubbish take off of a working class Dublin accent.

I hate the ads, hate the script, they are just so corny.
 
MandaC said:
The point about these accents are they are no accent - they are just so odd, nobody speaks like that, they are a false flat Dublin accent.
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Yeah OK but

Caveat said:
...Accents from outside Dublin represented on radio or TV ads tend to be either 1) Cork - and usually badly done. or 2) "country" - whatever that means - and usually from nowhere in particular by the sounds of it.
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lightswitch said:
...An ad like this one needs a generic accent otherwise it can be perceived as suggesting that one particular group are the ones being targeted.
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What is a generic accent?

Sounds to me like what I was saying above. But maybe I'm wrong.
 
I dont think they are meant to be generic - they are supposed to be Dublin accents, just not good ones.
 
I have heard the ads and they are very annoying but I also accept that they are being targeted at the right people. The argument that people feed their kids processed junk food because it’s cheaper doesn’t stand up. I do all the cooking in my house and its far cheaper to cook from scratch. The argument that people feed their kids processed junk food because they have not been taught to cook also doesn’t stand up. If you can read you can cook. People feed their kids processed junk food because they are lazy and/or stupid and just don’t care about them enough to look after them properly.

BTW, most ads are aimed at selling things to women so they are often condescending to women by being overtly sexist towards men. If ads were as sexist towards women there would be uproar.
 
There are many Dublin accents..
D4 accents, townie accents, working class accents, middle of the road accents.

I don't know where these people are trained but they would need to stop paying for the voice coaches as all the accents from Dublin are appalling,fair city is one example.
 
Yea, a generic accent is one that sounds like it is from no where in particular, therefore can offend few and in theory appeal to many.

The way I look at the representation of the flat Dublin accents in these ads would be a bit like if UK radio stations broadcast the same ads using Irish accents. Or if they had used "foreign national" accents, but that would have caused uproar, and rightly so.

Purples comment with regard to them "targeting the right people with their use of accent" reflects the thinking of the people who approved the ad. Very bad taste and extreme snobbery in my opinion.

In fact people who eat out from a main menu and use the Childrens menu, ie, Chicken nugggets / Sausage and chips for their kids instead of smaller portions of the main menu need to be targeted by these ads. The vast majority of these people do not have flat Dublin accents.
 
lightswitch said:
Purples comment with regard to them "targeting the right people with their use of accent" reflects the thinking of the people who approved the ad. Very bad taste and extreme snobbery in my opinion.
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Speaking as someone from a part of Dublin where people speak with a "skanger" accent it would be easy to take offence at the ad but that would be to .

lightswitch said:
In fact people who eat out from a main menu and use the Childrens menu, ie, Chicken nugggets / Sausage and chips for their kids instead of smaller portions of the main menu need to be targeted by these ads.
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I agree with you there; if we give our children a taste for fat and salt at an early age we are asking for trouble.
 
Purple said:
... The argument that people feed their kids processed junk food because they have not been taught to cook also doesn’t stand up. If you can read you can cook. People feed their kids processed junk food because they are lazy and/or stupid and just don’t care about them enough to look after them properly...
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I know some literate people who are terrible cooks.

On the substantive point: there are many people who don't have a clue how to cook, and who don't even realise that it is not very difficult. To such people, a cookbook is about as intimidating as a DIY manual for neurosurgery. It would be a good thing is such people were encouraged to try cookery, and it would also be worth bringing home to them how, if you can cook, you can feed a family a healthier diet and save money at the same time.

When I shop, I buy ingredients. It saddens me to see people who appear not to be well off spending their limited money on meals and snack foods of dubious quality.
 
"Speaking as someone from a part of Dublin where people speak with a "skanger" accentit would be easy to take offence at the ad but that would be to ."

Not sure what your comment above actually means purple, are you from such a part of Dublin?

Had a look at your link and it made me reconsider some previously held beliefs that some politicans, bankers etc were overpaid. Clearly they are from a low socio economic background and are overweight for that reason :rolleyes:.
 
lightswitch said:
Not sure what your comment above actually means purple, are you from such a part of Dublin?
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Yes, when I said "Speaking as someone from a part of Dublin where people speak with a "skanger" accent" I meant that I was from an area where people speak with a skanger accent. Sorry for not being clearer...

lightswitch said:
Had a look at your link and it made me reconsider some previously held beliefs that some politicans, bankers etc were overpaid. Clearly they are from a low socio economic background and are overweight for that reason :rolleyes:.
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That's right, general tendencies can be invalidated by specific examples. If I said that Dutch people were generally very tall I presume the presentation of one small Dutch person would, in your view, invalidate the generalised observation. (BTW, while there are indeed some short Dutch people they are as a nation, on average, the tallest people in the world.)
 
Padraigb said:
I know some literate people who are terrible cooks.
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So do I.

Padraigb said:
On the substantive point: there are many people who don't have a clue how to cook, and who don't even realise that it is not very difficult. To such people, a cookbook is about as intimidating as a DIY manual for neurosurgery. It would be a good thing is such people were encouraged to try cookery, and it would also be worth bringing home to them how, if you can cook, you can feed a family a healthier diet and save money at the same time.
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I don’t agree that it’s that big a deal to learn to cook. If your kids are fat and you don’t have enough money at the end of the week because you re buying junk food and ready meals then get up off your backside and learn to cook. It’s not hard.

Padraigb said:
When I shop, I buy ingredients. It saddens me to see people who appear not to be well off spending their limited money on meals and snack foods of dubious quality.
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Same here.
 
I'm starting to worry for you Purple, there really is no need to drag Dutch people into the discussion, that is unless they are tall and Fat :).

Anyway at least we all agree that it is a crap ad, that's something.
 
lightswitch said:
I'm starting to worry for you Purple, there really is no need to drag Dutch people into the discussion, that is unless they are tall and Fat :).

Anyway at least we all agree that it is a crap ad, that's something.
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I take it from that you accept my general point.
 
lightswitch said:
Nope, don't accept your general point at all.
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Ok, I can only present you with the facts. If you choose to ignore them there's not much more to say.

From [broken link removed] from Combat Poverty;
"Obesity Determinants in Irish Society – A Poverty Perspective
A recent study on food poverty and policy in Ireland commissioned by Combat
Poverty, Crosscare and the Society of St Vincent de Paul (Conlon and Friel, 2004)5highlights the close relationship between health, nutrition and socio-economic status.
The findings of this study draw attention to the particular vulnerability of sociallydisadvantaged groups to food poverty, and related conditions such as malnutritionand obesity."
 
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