A group of Australian Brits who won an advertising ban on the use of the word Pom now want the United Nations to rule the use of term as racial discrimination.
A beer advertisement was taken off Australian radio this week for its use of the word Pom, slang for a Brit, often teamed with the adjective whingeing.
The Advertising Standards Board ruled that Pom was used in a derogatory, almost hostile way, in the ad in which British men sing Land of Hope and Glory using various synonyms of the word whinge including whine, moan, slag and complain.
The advertisement ended with a voice-over saying "Introducing Tooheys New Super Cold, served so cold it's a Pom's worst nightmare".
British beer is often derided in Australia as being warm.
Now the emboldened group - British People Against Racial Discrimination - are petitioning the UN to take action on the word.
Its 14 West Australian and 12 Victorian members, who have spent four years campaigning against the word, say they don't want Pom totally banned.
Group spokesman Dave Thomason told News Ltd: "We just object to the fact that the media won't use nicknames for other nationalities - the Italians, the French, the New Zealanders, the Americans - but they use Pom all the time."
Mr Thomason arrived in Australia 37 years ago and was naturalised on Australia Day 27 years ago.
He said Pom was used at least five times a week in Australian media reports, whereas the word "wog" was used just once in 12 months.
"How would most Australians feel if they were called prisoners in the paper all the time," Mr Thomason told News Ltd.
He said all racial nicknames should be used or none at all.
"We are in the process of submitting a petition to the UN calling for an investigation of Australia's racial discrimination laws because they are deficient."
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