A new poster new campaign against littering in the city of Aalst has triggered great consternation. One of the posters shows three black youths surrounded by hundreds of cigarette butt ends and the slogan "At every cool spot in Aalst something filthy is spoiling the fun." The poster provoked a lot of criticism, and also generated racist comments. Mayor Christoph D'Haese (Flemish nationalist/N-VA) has now intervened: the poster will no longer be seen on the streets of Aalst.
One of the new campaign posters against littering depicts three black youths. They are sitting on a popular square in Aalst, around them are hundreds of cigarette butt ends. Below the picture is also the text "At every cool spot in Aalst something filthy is spoiling the fun."
The poster caused quite a stir in the East Flemish town. A lot of people say the poster is racist and condemn it. On social media there are also a lot of racist reactions to the image. Mayor Christoph D'Haese admits the message may come across in the wrong way.
"First of all, I want to stress that I did not see the images beforehand. There was agreement on the project, but I had not yet seen the precise elaboration. It is the municipal communication and environment departments that are responsible for the elaboration. I will speak to them about this, because although I am sure it was not their intention, I can understand that the message could be completely misinterpreted."
D'Haese regrets that the focus is no longer on the campaign against littering. "The focus should be on cigarette butt ends. The intention was to create a confrontational campaign because the amount of litter has increased by 60 per cent in the last year. In itself, there is nothing wrong with the picture and the text, it depends on how you look at it. But I realise that the picture can be taken out of context. It is certainly not intended to stigmatise any particular population group, quite the contrary."
Poster no longer seen on the streets
"Unfortunately, the campaign triggered a lot of comment. In order not to cause any more commotion, the poster will no longer be seen in the streets. However, it had already been circulated on social media. I fully realise it is a delicate matter, and that people with less good intentions tried to paint a picture of Aalst by using it. A pity, because we are a very inclusive city," D'Haese concludes.