Race Relations Office declines to rule on car advertising

Media Release
19 June 2015

Race Relations Office declines to rule ‘Jap Import’ car advertising

The Race Relations Office of the Human Rights Commission has declined to rule on the use of the term “Jap import cars” in advertising by the country’s largest importer and retailer of used Japanese vehicles.

2 Cheap Cars sought advice from the Human Rights Commission after receiving a complaint from the Japanese Society of Auckland about its advertising. The Race Relations Office is not prepared to make a definitive statement on the advertising issue, because it says no formal complaint has been made to the Commission about the ads and it doesn’t want to pre-determine the matter if a complaint is made.

2 Cheap Cars CEO Eugene Williams says the feedback from the Race Relations Office is not compelling enough for the company to change its advertising at this point.

“The Office also made some general comments to us that the word Jap was considered a derogatory term towards Japanese people during the Second World War. However, our view has always been that this is not a term directed at Japanese people but rather a commonly used phrase to describe second hand cars imported from Japan … it is also worth noting that it is 60 years after the war. We believe it would be a big and unnecessary step to say people should not use the term Jap Imports in their conversations or in advertising,” he says.

Mr Williams says 2 Cheap Cars continues to maintain that it has no wish to be offensive or behave in a derogatory way towards the Japanese people.

“If the Race Relations office did come back with a definitive ruling on the matter which sought to outlaw the use of the term, and even though it would be contrary to our view, we would of course make changes to our ads,” says Mr Williams.

Mr Williams says 2 Cheap Cars expects to sell approximately 10,000 used cars imported from Japan in the next 12 months and it will need to continue to carry out extensive advertising in order to help achieve those sales.

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