TOP GEAR Executive Producer Responds

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TOP GEAR Executive Producer Responds

February 15, 2011 by Julito Varela

Hey, gotta give it up to TOP GEAR. I actually received a real letter from an Executive Producer today. No form letters from a PR company. Yup, I don’t agree with. Here it is:

Dear Mr Varela

Thank you for your feedback about Top Gear.

I can honestly say that it wasn’t our intention to offend Mexicans, much less create some sort of minor diplomatic crisis, but I stand by the inclusion of these comments in a show like Top Gear.

Perhaps understandably, a lot of the complaints we received were from Mexicans. That may be one of the downsides of being a successful British show hosted by three presenters with very British sensibilities but I don’t think many Top Gear fans in the UK or abroad would want us to change our presentation style.

Of course you’re perfectly entitled to disagree and I’m only too aware that many people do. I can only speak for myself and the presenters when I say we all thought the comments would be taken in the same spirit as those about the many other nations referenced in Top Gear.

I hope this explains our position on the matter but if you believe a serious and specific breach of the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines has occurred here, and you wish to pursue this complaint further, you can contact the BBC’s Editorial Complaints Unit, within 20 working days, and they will carry out an independent investigation.

You can write to them at the following address:

Editorial Complaints Unit
BBC
Room 5168
White City
201 Wood Lane
London
W12 7TS

Alternatively you can email the Unit at the address: ecu@bbc.co.uk, but please note that complaints submitted via email must include a postal address as ECU findings are sent by letter. Whether or not you choose to pursue your complaint with the ECU please be assured your further concerns have been registered.

Yours sincerely

Andy Wilman
Executive Producer
BBC Top Gear

Kind regards

BBC Audience Services

Posted in Social Media, Twitter | Tagged BBC, Latino, Latino in America, latinos, latinos in social media, LATISM, Mexico, Social Media, Top Gear, Twitter | 12 Comments

12 Responses

on February 15, 2011 at 11:00 pm | Reply juliorvarela

This feels like a bad episode of BRAZIL.
on February 15, 2011 at 11:52 pm | Reply Vladimir

that is by far the politest way of telling someone to quit their whining i have ever encountered. very subtle, very british, just like top gear. i love it 😀
- on February 16, 2011 at 12:26 am | Reply juliorvarela
  
  You see it that way, I see it as getting more interest in the story.
on February 16, 2011 at 1:02 am | Reply Hal Ober

I showed the Top Gear video to my wife, Carol, today. She remarked, “They’re like…British white trash!” Of course, they’d be perfectly entitled to disagree with that characterization, but I think it’s spot on.
- on February 16, 2011 at 1:52 am | Reply juliorvarela
  
  So true
on February 16, 2011 at 3:11 am | Reply Vladimir

i have devised a perfect solution to this problem: top gear needs a latino political officer on their production staff, who would have the power to veto any segments deemed offensive to any latinos world wide. another crisis averted 😀
- on February 16, 2011 at 6:46 am | Reply juliorvarela
  
  That would be awesome. I would love that job. Get to travel all over the world and educate ignorant comments! Woot!
on February 16, 2011 at 7:25 am | Reply Ezzy Guerrero-Languzzi

Having a hard time taking Vlad’s, or whatever his real name is, comments seriously.
- on February 16, 2011 at 3:50 pm | Reply juliorvarela
  
  We are with ya!
on February 16, 2011 at 7:28 am | Reply Ezzy Guerrero-Languzzi

Easy to hide behind a fictitious name.
- on February 18, 2011 at 8:35 pm | Reply Vladimir
  
  Vladimir is my real name, why would you assume it wasn’t? You don’t have to take me seriously, but my position is a sensible one. Censoring speech is easy, doing so with thoughts is much harder. So let’s assume top gear never makes a mexican joke again. They, and millions others will still think it was funny (in that context).
  - on February 18, 2011 at 8:44 pm juliorvarela
    
    You have your opinion, others have theirs.