If someone ran an advertising campaign featuring a caricature of a black former TV presenter turned Blairite Quango boss, then perhaps the Equality and Human Right Commission might do something. Well, we can all dream...

That is just one train company, not a national campaign. Not that it makes it much better.

And any campaign about British railways that suggests that they're on time, not crowded, or in any way pleasant should be able to be reported to advertising standards as blatant untruth, never mind the racism.

I have a feeling that in Britain, a lot of people simply don't think of Mexican stereotypes as being racist.

That doesn't mean it isn't racist, of course - but in the public mind caricatures of Mexicans seem to be placed in the same category as beret-wearing Frenchmen and lederhosen-wearing Germans, as supposedly harmless stereotypes. I remember knowing several guys whose favourite party costume was putting on sombreros, false moustaches and ponchos, and this wasn't met with any censure, let alone the sort of horror you'd get if they'd turned up covered in boot polish and wearing grass skirts. Central and Southern Americans here tend to be regarded as 'white' and thus fair game for caricature, where there's a general (though by no means universal, sadly) understanding that black and Asian cultures are off-limits.

The only thing I can think of that would explain it is that Britain doesn't have a significant Mexican population, let alone anything near the amount that's present in the US. A lot of people don't really know anything about Mexican culture outside of cowboy films, if that.

And asides from all that... wtf does any bad cultural stereotype have to do with trains?

It sounds more like Loco Toledo is speaking in a bad Cajun accent than a Mexican one:D

I agree with Tab that this commercial might be the result of Britain not having a large Mexican population/generally lacking knowledge about Mexican culture. When I was living in London, I was surprised that, in an otherwise culturally diverse city, the Latino population seemed to be pretty small. Not this would justify using Mexican caricatures to sell train tickets or anything.

Also, was anyone else thinking this might have been inspired by that asinine Jack Black movie, Nacho Libre?

You know what's missing in Anglo representations of Mexican luchadores? Masks. From Santo, El Enmascarado de Plata to Rey Misterio, that's the single most iconic feature of Mexican wrestling.

Good luck trying to justify a BDSM-style mask in mainstream media, though XD

Also, shouldn't it be "Toledo Loco"?

My two cents:

Is this an insulting, stupid, ignorant commercial? Yes.

Should it be banned from TV? No.

Freedom of expression, and so on…

I agree with Tab. That immigrants and descendants from Latin America are overlooked as cultural and ethnic minorities is true not only of the UK but of rest of Europe as well, except, for obvious reasons, Spain.

European prejudices about especially Mexicans are stupid and increibly uninformed, and yes, there really isn't much cultural sensitivity. I do not think it is because they are considered 'white', though, mainly because 'white' as a social category does not have the same implications here as in the US. Of course, part of the racial privilege is that it can go un-acknowledged, but still - the social markers in public discourse here are 'culture', 'religion' (especially concerning muslims) and sometimes 'ethnicity', but most Europeans don't like to talk about race. at all. So yeah, I agree making fun of Mexican is generally considered to be kinda the same as making fun of Germans for their lederhosen or Italian men for their overtly metrosexual 'don juan' appearence.

Actually, a lot of Europeans would say that people in the US are obsessed with race and being PC about it and 'should let it go, already'. And I must confess that I have a part of that bias as well. I tend to get annoyed when Americans presume that race relations are the same in Europe as in the us.

Hey, I take Southern Trains from London Victoria to Epsom some days when I've gone to the gym after work (work in London). They are pretty slow so maybe this ad is signifying a change in service...one can only hope. Still, it's not a very good ad...*cringe*

Enough.

This world could use more demeaning imagery and insulting diatribe; enough homogenization and enough sterilization. Why is it that we, as people, cannot be off-color?

Simply enough. There are countless other ills present in the world that desire attention more than this blasé critique of modern media.

What makes this different from the european cultural stereotypes is that there is a value judgment attached to the stereotype: the message being sent is that Mexican society and Mexican people are backward and inferior, easily impressed with such "modern" things like commuter trains. Notice the comparison that's made to the trains in his home country, they're depicted as being broken down and inefficient, as if the people there can't get themselves out of the 19th century.

Incidentally, anyone who's used the Metro/subway system in Mexico City can tell you how out of touch that commercial is: the rail lines cover a huge amount of area, and it's cheaper, cleaner, and easier to navigate than a lot subways I've taken in other major cities.

Inexplicable? Really? Maybe to someone unaware of Nacho Libre, Lucha Libre, Weeds and that LOCOmotive is another name for train.

> Incidentally, anyone who’s used the Metro/subway system in Mexico City can tell you how out of touch that commercial is: the rail lines cover a huge amount of area, and it’s cheaper, cleaner, and easier to navigate than a lot subways I’ve taken in other major cities.

Incidentally, a seemingly abandoned village is mentioned, not Mexico City.

As a mexican living in europe, my two centavos:

- Yeah, we have a good subway system in Mexico City, but there are no passenger trains, anywhere in the country. There's plans for opening a line between the capital and some nearby city, but for now it's just for freight.

- I don't feel insulted, at all, by the commercial. I may have a high tolerance for mexican stereotypes, but other than 'the danger of the single story' (see Chimamanda Adichie in her TED talk), I can't find anything wrong with this.

So people wearing black makeup can be insulting to black people, not because of the actual costume, but because of what the costume represents in the history of the segregation in the US. This is not the case with "Loco Toledo", mainly because these kind of wrestlers actually are part of mexican culture, and you will find examples of similar advertising within Mexico. Yes, it's sad that our culture is being reduced to 'siesta' and 'fiesta'... but I just don't think this reaches 'racism'.

I agree with Vandrerol. This isn't a stereotype. It is an accurate depiction of an over-the-top Mexican wrestler.
If we can't poke fun at Mexican wrestler's, than what have we become?

I agree with Victoria; I've seen the "locomotive"->"loco"->"crazy in Spanish" connection done before (in French, but still) so the choice isn't really inexplicable. As to whether it's racist, that's another question.

The most obvious reference I can think of for this character is Jack Black's Nacho Libre; you can watch the trailer here: http://bit.ly/147rc2
The movie was released in 2006, and in all likelihood is the reference for this ad: the performances are similar and the wrestling outfit finally makes some sense.
In advertising terms then, if the source of inspiration for the name of the character might indeed be locomotive, the reference to Jack Black might represent the coolness factor that is otherwise missing from this very bizarre add.

English ads for trains must have an old white guy speaking with an English accent, wearing some sort of uniform that includes a hat, sipping a cup of tea and mentioning the Queen. Anything else is weird. It's a Nacho Libre knockoff, the original character being a failure at life in Mexican society.

I'm a Mexican, and having traveled all over the world I have always been fascinated by the utter ignorance there is about my country in Europe and Asia. As a Mexican I don't feel offended by this ad, it only shows someone else's ignorance.