Apparently at least some Australians aren’t happy with a PayPal advertisements that include legendary Aborigine David Unaipon with a motorcycle police helmet added on to suggest PayPal has heightened security. The ads, which are on the sides of buses in Australia, says the Sydney Morning Herald, are disrespectful and degrading according to Unaipon’s relatives.
The ads also apparently feature other bills as well. And PayPal, instead of just not commenting or removing those specific ads, makes a mess of it. “PayPal spokeswoman Kelly Stevens said the ads were “perfectly legal”" – which doesn’t really address the issue.
Best quote from the article: “It is very disrespectful because for a start no Aboriginal people have a helmet – we’re not bikies and we’re not Vikings.”
It’s not clear that many other Aborigines are offended. And the two Unaipon relatives seem to be in the process of shaking down the government for permission to use Unaipon’s portrait on Australian currency at all. Maybe they’re just looking for a little something from PayPal, too.
Sometimes I feel bad for PayPal and all the negative publicity they get. Then I remember how terrible their customer service is, and how many times I’ve been angry at them, and I feel a lot less bad.
” and we’re not Vikings.”
Seems they will have trobules with Scandinavians now.
Looks like Aborigines are humorless morons.
@Insider, It’s the guy’s relatives that are complaining. People tend to have less of a sense of humour when things get personal. It’s also possible that they are after compensation (as Michael pointed out).
Then again I expect that there are other Aboriginals offended by Paypal – there aren’t that many Aboriginal heroes from that era – they weren’t permitted as a rule. I wouldn’t expect you to have any idea what that might mean.
…yes, people who continue to be disenfranchised and treated as 2nd class citizens in their native country by ‘relative newcomers’ have every right to speak up all they want.
LOL you fucken idiot. All abo’s do is sit around, drink metho and get drunk. They live in the outback, nowhere near here or any other city. They don’t contribute to our economy OR society and just complain and complain. I wish we could send them all over to New Zealand.
This is just a tech-taste of the way Australian aboriginals react to a very wide range of issues.
While there have been some mistreating many decades ago, this (from paypal) is far from that story continuing. Because they are able to get so much sympathy and monetary gain from the complaining they do, they extend it as far as possible.
This reaction by the aboriginals is so stereotypical of what we see daily in Australia it very well could have been planned by Paypal’s marketing company in advance – making it an effective campaign.
“Then I remember how terrible their customer service is, and how many times I’ve been angry at them, and I feel a lot less bad’
So very true. They have an awesome service that helps out thousands of web workers but their support is the worst.
And the point of this post was…?
Oh right, to voice your negative views on PayPal. That’s right. Silly Jeero.
shitpal and shitbay deserve to bankrupt.
Maybe they would have better service/employee talent if they updated there careers page: ebaycareers.com/ Leaving it alone since 2002 seems like a huge mistake to me
I’m an Aussie, and whilst I’m not aboriginal, I’m violated by Paypal on a regular basis. I think it’s horrendous that they’re on our buses at all, let alone offending us! I think Paypal, like our prime minister Kevin Rudd, need to say “sorry”.
I’m an Aussie too and you’re a joke!
Who gives a rat’s arse whether PayPal puts a helmut on a guy on our money. The idea behind the message actually seems rather clever. If everyone’s so offended by this why aren’t they also complaining about the fact that that same old abo guys face is probably gracing the inside of a snort tube for a coke head more often than its used like this!
Also, how are you ‘violated by Paypal’ ?
While I’m not an Aussie, I do know that “abo” is an offensive term to many Aussies (I found out the hard way…or shall I say, the naive way).
Seems like shorthand for aborigine, right? No biggie….you’d be wrong.
Anyways, outlaws ride motorcycles, yes? Why not Ned Kelly?
Here here!
I don’t even need a billboard to get started on shitpal & shitbay.
aboriginals are just a bunch of greedy and whinging b&tches, and all they do with the money is buy booze and get drunk in public parks and reserves.
Evan, you make Aussies look bad…
“Then I remember how terrible their customer service is, and how many times I’ve been angry at them, and I feel a lot less bad” I agree also, somebody used my card and used it for a transaction, when I disputed, they coolly said it will take 45 days. One customer wrongly said they didn’t buy the product back and he later apologized, but it took me six months to get the money back.
‘bikies’ … WTF, is this Mad Max?
‘Bikies’ is Australian for ‘bikers’. Rebels, Hell Angels, etc are bikies.
The Reserve Bank of Austalia is also under fire from the same Aborigines as they claim those that did give permission for his image to be used on the $50 was not a relative authorised to make that decision.
Wow Evan, way to totally discriminate and sterotype the Aboriginals.
I hope that is sarcasm…
Oops.. don’t mind that last comment!
PayPal is ridiculous – should you have some trouble with your account – they expect you to fax them personal documents to prove you are who you say you are and will not accept any other method of authentication – sorry but I am not trusting them to hold onto the documents they require of me so my account is turned off and frankly I don’t miss it
Lots of negativity in the comments against PayPal.
I live in Australia (but I’m not Australian) and PayPal is one of the best/only options for small online businesses over here (we don’t have Google Checkout) and banks here charge you for having an account with them (I’m originally from the UK where that doesn’t happen) so obviously setting up a merchant account which can take credit card over the internet is going to cost a fortune with any of the banks here.
As for the adverts from reading TFA it appears the great nephews are looking to get some cash because the fify has a distant relatives face on it – that didn’t work so attack PayPal for making a clever advertisement out of it instead.
“PayPal Gets In Trouble With Australia’s Aborigines”.. THe title itself is deceiving. It tries to categorize/divide people and imply why they are complaining, while it should just say, “Paypal gets in trouble with relatives of Australian national hero”.
It makes a huge difference when you phrase it that way. For one it prevents to a certain extent to feed the stupidity, ignorance and hatred of quite a few people out there, and notably a couple readers who made comments here. That’s the kind of title that belongs to the mid 1950s…
While I don’T doubt they were more offended by the fact they are aborigines, one has to understand historically, they’ve been abused, humiliated and exterminated, and their rich spiritual culture trampled upon. For instance in Tasmania, you could call kill it a genocide. They killed them all.
NOw if the aborigines are fighting to get the respect they deserve, at least those who still have a ounce of self confidence , self respect and a sense of identity, one could expect some of them to get offended when one their most recognized hero is defaced and used on a corporate billboard.
PaylPal should recognize their ignorance of historical/social context and apologize. They sure would if they had offended the jewish community, because the retaliation in that case would be severe.
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I hate PayPal too for the same reason Mike does. Just doing my part by chiming in here and telling people not to use this horrible company for online transactions. They are likely to treat your client like crooks.
shitpal lol
Spot on, JM.
“Avoidance of naming the dead – Traditionally, this meant avoiding referring to the dead person by name directly after their death as a mark of respect — and also because it is considered too painful for the grieving family. Today the practice continues in many communities, but has also come to encompass avoiding the publication or dissemination of photography or film footage of the deceased person as well.”
http://en.wikip...dance_practices
And that’s before you, stick them on a bank note, slap a helmet on them and plaster it across the side of a bus.
So, if I understand you correctly, now we’re blaming Paypal for this man’s face being on Australian currency?? All Paypal did was use a picture of Australian currency in an ad. If there was any injury, then it was done by the people who decided to put the man on the note in the first place.
Is there any particular reason that no blame is being assessed there??
Just curious.
As someone who is typically quite aware of sensitivity issues, I don’t see how this can be deemed as really offensive.. unless of course this dude died in a motorcycle/vehicle accident and could’ve survived had he worn a helmet. If he’s already on the bill, he’s in play. It’s a stretch to me to say this was done in bad taste or with ill intent.
..that’s because you dont carry the baggage of being repressed and spat upon
Tryps, it doesn’t sound like you are an Aussie. If you were, you’d know that this is an issue that is particularly culturally sensitive. Before any shows on television over here that contain images of Aborigines, there’s a warning that says “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that the following program may contain images and voices of deceased persons”. It doesn’t seem to me to be too onerous on PayPal to be a bit sensitive to the culture of the original inhabitants of this place.
Did relatives of the old guy complain when Australian government put him on the $50 notes?
paypal sux. They cheated me out of $47.23 from my remaining account and would not pay me back. Their customer service would not tell me why, just that they would give me money. Someone needs to investigate paypal, it’s doing illegal stuff.
Perhaps the man’s relatives are being a little precious and their attempt at financial gain from the reserve bank over the incident does detract from the credibility of their claim but their culture does have an aversion to viewing images of deceased relatives, let alone images that are being used for commercial purposes.
On top of that after Ebay’s attempt to force Australians to ONLY use paypal on ’security grounds’ I say screw ‘em, let the natives be a thorn in their side.
Whoa …. so shouldn’t their complaint be with the Australian government to have his image removed from the currency?? I mean, if having him on the bill is an insult to his people … then what the heck is it doing there in the first place??
The relatives are complaining to the Reverse Bank about the use of the image on the $50 note. They claim that the person who gave permission to use the image was given by someone posing as a relative.
Gary – “I live in Australia (but I’m not Australian) and PayPal is one of the best/only options for small online businesses over here (we don’t have Google Checkout) and banks here charge you for having an account with them (I’m originally from the UK where that doesn’t happen) so obviously setting up a merchant account which can take credit card over the internet is going to cost a fortune with any of the banks here.”
I am in exactly the same boat (I’m even a pom living in Oz). I to used to think Paypal were great for the same reasons you do. But just wait til you have a problem with your account – then you’ll change your tune. Like me you’ll be begging Google to open Checkout here in Australia.
Come on Google – thousands of Australian traders hate PayPal – you have a golden opportunity to enter the Australian market and immediately capture a chunk of PayPal’s market.
As for PayPal, their response simply demonstrates their arrogance and indifference to the Australian market. Whether it was legal or not, the smart thing to do (from a PR perspective) would have been to apologise and remove the ads. End of story.
Well, would everyone be happy if Paypal used a different denomination of bill?? One with a Caucasian Australian figure rather than one who was Aboriginal in origin?? Or, would they then start complaining that their hero was being slighted? It would be a little ironic if that were to happen.
So, Paypal …. just change the freaking type of bill on the ad … put a helmet on someone from a group of people who understand that helmets are a good way to keep from ending up with your brains scattered all over the road and leave it at that.
There’s obviously no cultural taboo amongst Caucasian Australians regarding the use of images of dead people so of course this would be an acceptable solution to everyone. I think your fantasy that Aborigines would be slighted by this solution just shows your prejudice.
The more I look at this ad the more ridiculous it starts to look… They made a joke of this poor guy on the bill.. blinded his eyes to show just his unconventionally shaped mouth… The type of thing you do with monkeys to make the public laugh… I can’t help but feel that Greg’s is right when he writes:
“This reaction by the aboriginals is so stereotypical of what we see daily in Australia it very well could have been planned by Paypal’s marketing company in advance – making it an effective campaign.”
Shame on PayPal for doing that… and for the Australian marketing team who knew very well what they were up to!
The aborigines have been humiliated and their culture destroyed, now PayPal is using the hyper-sensitiveness that comes from decades of genocide to create controversy, thus making their campaign very effective. But is it really?
With this controversy also comes all the negative reviews on Paypal as we see here.. I was about to offer paypal as the main payment option on one of my web service, now I’m having second thoughts…
Paypal gives a sh*t on it’s customers or people.
This sounds familiar. I’m thinking of two things:
1. Geico
2. Disgruntled Cavemen
I’m not up on my Aboriginal history or culture, but this sound a little silly to me.
The thing is, THEY ARE USING OTHER BILLS IN THIS ADD AS WELL, not just the $50. No one is even mentioning this fact cause they want to paint the picture that PayPal is targeting the Aboriginal community. I’m pretty sure the other bills have dead people on them, so why isn’t it disrespectful to them?
Anyways, I don’t see what the big problem is.
PayPal should apologise.
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Aborigines are always complaining about the problems THEY make for themselves.
They get houses given to them – within 3 months the houses are ruined!
They get cattle stations given to them – a year later all the cattle are dead, the range rovers are husks, and the abo’s are all gone walkabout.
The bleeding hearts all whinge and moan about their health – In Kalgoorlie, you give them a house, and next week it’s bashed it and they’re living in the front garden inside a fucking watertank.
Aborigines are NOT human, they are monkey-men, a distinct off-shoot of some monkey species that’s close enough to true humans to mate with (although mating with an abo make you candidate for the insane asylum!).
I think it’s a disgrace and should be removed!
I think they should use the five dollar note instead, it would make an improvement on the note and the queens face.I am an australian for a republic of australia.