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British tour company offers "redneck free" vacations
Activities Abroad, a UK based tour company that offers upscale active vacations in places like Canada and Costa Rica has found itself on the receiving end of a ton of criticism.The reason? They sent out 24,000 emails to potential customers describing the kind of people you will not see on their trips.
The company actually did research into the names of customers they associated with being "chav", which is the Brit equivalent of the US redneck or trailer trash.
According to Activities Abroad, if your name is Britney, Kylie-Lianne, Bianca, Tiffany, Dazza, Chardonnay, Chantelle, Candice, Courtney or Shannon, you are probably a "chav".
If your name is John, Sarah, James, Charles, Rachel, Michael, Alice, Lucy, Joseph or Charlotte then you are probably not trailer trash.
Good to know eh?
The managing director for the company says he feels it is time that the middle class finally stood up for themselves, and asks parents whether they'd want their kids playing at the shopping mall with the kind of people that hang around all day smoking cheap cigarettes.
So far, the campaign has only created 15 negative responses. The concept of advertising vacations where "certain" people won't be found is of course pretty controversial, but I'm sure there is a market out there for it.
What do you think?
(Via: Telegraph.co.uk)
Filed under: United Kingdom, News
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dean Jan 28th 2009 5:41PM
I'd be the first to book a redneck free vacation if they ever became available here.
Tom Constantine Jan 28th 2009 9:26PM
Maybe I'm a redneck, but I'd rather book with a tour company that would protect me from rich, intolerant, right wing snobs.
Dean Jan 29th 2009 8:56AM
Tom,
Just wanted to let you know that rednecks exist in ALL socioeconomic classes. With money, does not come class, elegance, sophistication, or culture. As there are poor, intollerant, and uncultured people, there are also many rich, intollerant, and uncultured people. I wish to get away from, any, and all, of them, and would be willing to pay for a vacation that keeps me away from such. Rich, poor, or otherwise.
DJ Jan 29th 2009 6:08AM
I've spent a lot of time in the UK and they should never even MENTION people with cigarettes. You can't walk down the street without fear of being burned by the tip of a cigarette. The streets are overflowing with people who stand outside pubs to drink because they can't smoke inside. Trust me, the UK has their own version of "trailer trash" and they are everywhere, including London where it is not uncommon to see
women falling off their stilleto heels because they are too drunk to stand up. Why would Americans want to hang around people who smoke "cheap fags"? (for those who don't know, that is the British word for cigarette..silly, huh?)
Frogmarch Jan 29th 2009 11:15AM
A chav is not the same thing as a redneck; it's more fake-Burberry than Mossy Oak. While there are some common attributes to the stereotypes-- drinking too much, being undereducated and underemployed, and generally disregarding accepted standards of proper behavio(u)r-- a more accurate American English translation might be "guido" or "wigger".
None if which are nice things to call potential customers. I wonder if they sorted their mailing list to avoid mailing anyone named Courtney or Shannon...