<div><p>LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's advertising watchdog has banned a radio ad featuring a man speaking loudly in German and which asked: "Is your boss a bit of a tyrant?"</p><p>Thirteen listeners complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), saying it used an outdated stereotype.</p><p>The advert for the Reed Online recruitment agency featured a man speaking to his boss who responded angrily and loudly in German. The voice-over said: "Boss a bit of a tyrant? Find your perfect boss on the UK's biggest job site ..."</p><p>The ASA said: "We concluded that, given the extreme reaction and aggressive tone of the German speaking boss, the ad reinforced a negative and outdated cultural stereotype of German people as overpowering and tyrannical and therefore the ad had the potential to cause serious offence to some listeners."</p><p>It banned the advert for breaching rules on good taste and decency.</p><p>Reed did not comment but industry body the Radio Advertising Clearance Center said it believed most listeners would regard the scenario as humorous and inoffensive.</p><p>It said the boss character was a generic "German-sounding orator," which they believed was a well established type in British comedy culture.</p><p>(Reporting by Stephen Addison; Editing by Paul Casciato)</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=67360454&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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