Government scraps controversial ad that suggested dancers retrain after public outrage

13 October 2020, 13:12

By Alice Dear

The Government have removed the advert after the Culture Secretary described it as 'crass'.

A Government ad, which suggested dancers retrain for other careers amid the pandemic, has been removed.

This comes after the advert caused outrage among the public, especially people working in the arts.

The advert in question showed a ballet dancer tying her slippers, with the headline 'Fatima's next job could be in cyber, she just doesn't know it yet'.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden made it clear this week that the advert had nothing to do with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports.

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He said that he though the advert was "crass", adding: "This was a partner campaign encouraging people from all walks of life to think about a career in cyber security."

Mr Dowden added that he wanted to "save jobs in the arts", noting the £1.57billion support package the Government have created to support jobs in the sector.

This specific ad has now been scrapped, with a spokesperson for the Prime Minister saying: “This particular piece of content was not appropriate and has been removed from the campaign. The government recognises the challenge to the cultural industry.”

The campaign images do also include people working in supermarkets, shops and engineering being encouraged to retrain in cyber as part of the Government-backed course in cyber security.

However, the use of someone in the arts being seen to retrain wasn't received well, especially as there have been complaints the Government are not doing enough to save the entertainment industry.

On Monday, however, Rishi Sunak did announce the first round of funding to 1,385 organisations as part of the Cultural Recovery Fund had been awarded.

Over £250million has gone towards theatres, dance and musical organisation to "protect the arts and save jobs".

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