118 118 sends out racist jokes

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Student's fury after 118 118 joke service sends him 'Bernard Manning-style' racist gags
26th November 2008

A stunned student was shocked after receiving two racist 'jokes' after texting a service run by directory inquiries service 118 118. Kameron Abbas, 21, used the company's new joke text service with a friend 'for a laugh' after seeing it advertised on TV. But he was horrified when he was sent a message saying: 'What's the difference between ET and an Asian? ET got the message and went home.' Stunned Kameron then requested another, again using his friend Imran Shah's telephone, and received: 'How do you save a drowning Pakistani? Take your foot off his head.'

The student from Accrington, Lancashire, is now considering legal action against the firm, which admitted a 'breach of standards'.; He said: 'We couldn't believe the response. It was more Bernard Manning than Harry Hill. It was disgraceful and these people should be reported.'

The student at Preston's University of Central Lancashire, whose family live in Pakistan, said he had only texted the service because he was bored. 'I was horrified at what we received and couldn't believe that 118 118 would send anything like what they did. These sorts of jokes are not funny at all,' he said. Kameron, who lives in Accrington and whose family come from Pakistan, said he responded to 118 118 asking: 'Do you send racist jokes?' The company responded with a text that read: "does not send jokes of this kind".

A spokesman for 118 118 promised to investigate the incident. He said: "This is a breach of our standards. We don't do jokes like that. This is a disciplinary issue and we would like to apologise. He should not have received it."

Preston MP and racial equality campaigner Mark Hendrick said: "Clearly this is racist material and would be found offensive by sections of the community. I think it's only right and proper that 118 118 correct the material they send out because it should be seen as a responsible business. I commend the fact they have apologised for this and hope that no material of this nature will go out in the future."

It costs 60p to receive a joke which are sent by text message to a mobile phone.

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60p a time for hack racist jokes that have been going around since the 1970s and which they've clearly just siphoned off from shit websites? At least that represents the 118 188 brand!