“Gypsy water”.
It was the name of a perfume that the e-company Gents joked about on April Fool’s Day.
Now the company is being sued for discrimination by the Complaints Ombudsman.
On April 1, the e-retailer Gents, which sells beauty and hygiene products for men, sent out a newsletter in which they translated well-known English perfume names into Swedish.
But when the fragrance “Gypsy Water” was named “gypsy water”, the joke quickly took a different turn.
An upset recipient reported the mailing to the Advertising Ombudsman’s opinion board, RON, and pointed out that the word “gypsies” had long been used as an insult against Roma – and compared it to the n-word.
Company: “Just a translation”
Gents has not commented on the deposition, but previously told Resumé that the translation was only a direct translation of the perfume’s English name.
In the same interview, Ghent’s marketing director also defended the decision by saying that they “knew that our target group would appreciate the joke”.
RON disagrees. In its decision, the board states that the advertisement “is not free from offensive elements” and that it is “discriminatory in terms of ethnic origin”.
“Consumers in general are likely to perceive the word ‘gypsy water’ as derogatory,” they write, and believe that the campaign portrays Roma in an “offensive and demeaning way.”
Expressen has sought Gent’s CEO Jenny Rydhström, who has not returned.
