Has the call to ‘Un-Steve Yourself’ gone too far?

According to a Sunday Times report, the Advertising Standards Authority has received 20 formal complaints about First National Bank’s latest ad campaign involving the ‘Steve’ persona.

Mpumi Mda, ASA spokesperson, had this to say about the nature of the complaints: “Most of the complaints were that the campaign is offensive as it insinuates that all people with the name Steve are stupid or financially declined, and that children with the name Steve will be ridiculed and bullied as a result.”

FNB has issued a ‘Dear Steve’ letter which claims that “if your name happens to be Steve, we want to say that we have absolutely nothing against you, or your fine name.” The letter goes on to state that “the name Steve, has come to represent a person in his or her personal or business capacity who displays certain, shall we say, banking ‘blockages’.”

There has been further criticism of the Steve ads on Twitter, with a user going by the handle @ProudlySteve expressing their disdain at the campaign. His tweets consist of pictures of famous Steves from around the world in an attempt to get FNB to stop their campaign.

Lately, however, the call to ‘Un-Steve Yourself’ hasn’t been directed at FNB’s Steve, but at another Steve entirely…

https://twitter.com/CharlesKhuele/status/538002923213844480

Is your name Steve? Are you offended by FNB’s latest series of ads? Tell us on our Facebook page, or connect with us on Twitter – @CityBuzzJHB