The Sun was running full racing coverage throughout the event both online and in print, which meant there was plenty of content to push out through all of our channels. However, as many non-horse racing fans will know, horse racing can be pretty boring if you don't like, er, horse racing.
So to keep the rest of our followers interested, we decided to try to create some content that would raise a smile from those who aren't especially keen on racing, while still keeping the conversation focused on the festival.
The post we came up with is below.
As #CheltenhamFestival gets underway, suspicions are raised after a flood of bets are placed on an unknown horse... pic.twitter.com/wA76PlBwPl
— The Sun (@TheSunNewspaper) March 12, 2014If you've read my previous blog post about Simon Cowell, you might now be starting to think that all we ever do at Social HQ is photoshop people's faces onto the heads of other people (or animals). I promise you that is not the case, regardless of how plainly hilarious I believe this technique to be. However, on this occasion I must admit to being convinced that this bladder-burstingly funny gag was destined to be our most successful ever.
Sadly, this wasn't to be the case. A large number of people who responded accused us of racism.
When we conceived the idea, neither myself nor the social editor had even the tiniest inkling it might be construed as racist. To me, the concept was simple: Usain Bolt is the fastest man on the planet and a famously cheeky, larger-than-life character. If we put his face on a horse, and imply that he has inexplicably turned up at the Cheltenham Festival, it will be funny because:
- The picture is clearly hilarious (or is it just me??!)
- The picture will take the reader by surprise after the ostensibly serious text about cheating at the festival
Some readers did like it - it got 36 retweets - but many responded with messages accusing us of slavery-related racism. Their reasoning was that horses are essentially enslaved by their owners and are often associated with being forced into work.
We should perhaps have anticipated such a reaction, but I still to this day can't fully accept their point. Why would we try to use the Cheltenham Festival as a way of making complicated metaphors about slavery? Isn't the much more simple explanation (Fast man + fast animal + unexpected situation = funny) also the more obvious one? I even suspect the outrage might just have sprung out of an unconscious reaction to the striking similarity between the horse's coat and Mr Bolt's complexion. I suppose I'll never know.
So to sum up: I'm sad to say there really isn't any way that I'm able convince myself this post was a success (despite the positive responses we did receive), so I'm duty bound to record here this blog's very first #FAIL.
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