HAMILTON UPDATE: RACIST WEBSITE OWNED BY TWBA MEDIA

“The Spanish government cannot allow this organized and systematic racism to continue. These people must be widely condemned and the websites they use shut down immediately.”

Wow…the website used to target Lewis Hamilton with racists remarks and hatred has thankfully been shut down, but the most disturbing fact is that the site is owned and operated by New-York-based advertising agency, TWBA, which is part of the world’s largest media services group, Omnicom. And the kicker? The site belongs to the Spanish branch of the advertising firm.

Last night, the site was yanked and spanked after after hundreds of abusive messages were posted…and I don’t need to elaborate on what the messages said. We have British cabinet minister Andy Burnham to thank for the shut-down, as he led calls for action against the abuse. “This is a crucial race and the whole country will be behind him. I’m very concerned to hear reports of sites potentially fueling racist abuse. The authorities must take the toughest possible action against racism in sport.” Another one to thank is Keith Vaz, chairman of Labour’s ethnic minority taskforce, who urged foreign secretary David Miliband to lodge a formal protest:: “The Spanish government cannot allow this organized and systematic racism to continue. These people must be widely condemned and the websites they use shut down immediately.”

TBWA operates in 77 countries with 12,000 staff in 258 offices. Its clients include Absolut Vodka, Apple, Adidas, McDonald’s, Michelin, Sony PlayStation, and Singapore Airlines. Last year, Omnicom’s revenue was $12.7 B.

A spokesman in the New York office played dumb, saying they did not know why the site, designed and owned by its interactive marketing branch in Spain had not been monitored to stop racists using it to abuse Hamilton, but would take “appropriate action” once they identified the idiot who was responsible for the website.

Renault’s Fernando Alonso last night condemned the racist supporters. “If it’s true, obviously this is not possible [acceptable],” the Spaniard told reporters at the Brazilian Grand Prix. “In 2008 we cannot have these kind of people in our world. It’s not only formula one, not only sport, it’s normal life as well.”

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As always, thanks for reading.
Delinda Lombardo