Are national stereotypes offensive?

It is not offensive to refer to Germans as 'Krauts', according to Britain's advertising watchdog.

The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) says a leaflet carrying a picture of a German footballer with the slogan: "The Krauts are coming" is "a light-hearted reference to a national stereotype unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence".

The leaflet was produced by a company called Dronco Abrasives in the run-up to the Germany-England world cup qualifier.

Dronco, whose parent company is German, said the term was a "humorous reference to Germans' allegedly high consumption of sauerkraut".

But German cultural attache, Tilman Hancker, objects to the ruling: "Speaking personally I would be offended to be called it and I think most people would not find it a very nice name."

What do you think? Is stereotyping okay if it's "just for fun"? Or should we be more careful about offending other nationalities?

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