Photograph of ballerina ad
The culture secretary told his followers the advert was not from his department

The Government has pulled an advert that sparked outrage for suggesting people in the arts ‘retrain’ and ‘reskill’.

The ‘Rethink. Reskill. Reboot’ campaign posted an advert showing a photograph of a ballet dancer tying her shoes with the caption: ‘Fatima’s next job could be in cyber. She just doesn’t know it yet.’

People on social media responded in anger with even Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden tweeting that the advert was ‘crass’.

He said the ad had not come from his department and said: ‘To those tweeting re #Fatima This is not something from @DCMS & I agree it was crass.

‘This was a partner campaign encouraging people from all walks of life to think about a career in cyber security

‘I want to save jobs in the arts which is why we are investing £1.57bn.’

Shadow mental health minister Dr Rosena Allin-Khan also condemned the message and said: ‘Fatima, you be you. Don’t let anyone else tell you that you aren’t good enough because you don’t conform to their preconceived social norms.

Artists and musicians also shared their anger under ‘#Fatima’ with Fatboy Slim calling the ad ‘shameful’ and accusing the Government of ‘throwing the arts under the bus’. 

It is unclear when the advert was first published but appears to have resurfaced online after the Government urged people who have lost jobs during the pandemic to retrain as skilled workers.

The campaign was not only directed at artists as it included the same adverts marketed to people in other industries as well.

Cyber campaign ad
The campaign to get people to retrain themselves and get involved in a cyber career was directed at multiple industries
Cyber advert
Rishi Sunak has recently come under fire for comments ITV said he made encouraging artists to retrain

It comes after Rishi Sunak denied that he was encouraging people in the arts to change jobs and said he was telling workers in general that they would need to ‘adapt’ after comments he made in an interview with ITV

Boris Johnson’s spokesperson confirmed the Government was taking the advert down following the backlash.

According to Arts Council England, the arts and culture industry contributes more than £10billion a year to the UK economy, with £3 spent on food, drink, accommodation and travel for every £1 spent on theatre tickets.

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