Racist meerkats

Yes, I know, it's easy to parody the Grauniad. But really, this can't be real, can it? Can it

It's complaining that the 'compare the meerkat' ad is racist.

A few weeks ago, my girlfriend and I were watching TV at home when the advert for comparethemarket.com
appeared on our screen. I had seen the ad before and not thought
anything of it. However on this occasion, my girlfriend, who is
Ukrainian, turned to me and said: "I don't like this advert, it is very
offensive to me." I mentioned it to a friend who said his Latvian
lodger also found it offensive.

The advertisement centres on the
word "market" – a word that eastern Europeans/Russians pronounce
"meerkat" – using talking CGI-animated meerkats. The sole point of this
African animal's appearance is, it seems, to highlight the idea that
east Europeans cannot pronounce the word market properly when they
speak English. It struck me how racist it was to parody what is now a significant part
of the British population in this way. It also occurred to me that were
the ad to use stereotypical Indian or Caribbean accents in the same way
it would never be allowed on TV.