An advert for new movie The Grinch has been branded ‘racist’ for telling people it was their ‘last chance to turn around’ and leave south London.

The giant 50ft high, 400ft circular poster is displayed around London’s BFI IMAX cinema near to Waterloo station, as part of the advertising campaign for Benedict Cumberbatch’s new take on the classic children’s story.

But the poster was deemed ‘classist and racist’ online for including the words: ‘Welcome to south London. This is your last chance to turn around.’

Not everyone is happy with the new advert (Picture: Twitter/JamesAsfa)

On the other side of the poster, it reads: ‘You are now heading north of the river. Try to contain your excitement.’




The sarcastic comments are in homage to the titular character himself, who is known for being grumpy and negative.

But James Asfa tweeted: ‘Nope. Not finding this funny bfiImax Waterloo – snobbery of South London is based on classist and racist stereotypes.

‘Genuinely tried hard not to be a Grinch about this but too much #SouthLondonPride.’

Twitter user @isamyelyah was even less impressed, and vowed to boycott the film altogether.

She said: ‘Will be boycotting the new Grinch film due to vile anti south London slander on the giant ad for it on the Waterloo roundabout IMAX.’

There is also a slogan on the back of the piece (Picture: Twitter/gregwtravels)

Mattey also tweeted: ‘Your advert on the Waterloo @IMAX suggesting that North is better than South London prevents me from seeing your film.

‘How many people did the ad go through? All of them saying “Good work, 50k well spent” add your own invective. Rubbish.’

But others were confused with the crticism, claiming the poster didn’t favour north or south London.

Sidney Taylor asked: ‘Whats the problem?’ and Robbie Travers thought the message was funny.

‘Absolutely hilarious – get a life and a sense of humour,’ he told critics.

The wraparound space on the circular IMAX building is believed to be amongst the most expensive advertising sites in the country, with a reported price tag of up to £100,000 a week, Campaign reported.

Got a story for Metro.co.uk? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page.