Malta’s equality commission has said that road safety campaign adverts depicting a character in blackface should be withdrawn.

In a statement on Tuesday, the National Commission for Promotion of Equality said that it had reviewed video clips forming part of the campaign and identified both racial and gender stereotypes in them.

“Although the video-clips centre around cartoonish characters, the storyline still portrays these characters as racialised persons through the use of specific skin colours and hair textures, with the black character depicted in a negative way,” the commission said.

“Additionally, women and men are also portrayed in stereotypical gender roles within and outside the household.”

The ‘Street Smart’ road safety campaign is being jointly run by Malta Public Transport and Mapfre Middlesea Insurance and has been endorsed by the education ministry.

Video clips centre on a character in blackface with textured hair named Mr Careless, and a fair-skinned family named the Safe family.

Applying dark make-up or ‘blackface’ is highly offensive to people with dark skin tones. The practice finds its origins in 19th-century minstrel shows which mocked black people and reinforced ideas of white people’s superiority.

The adverts were slammed by African Media Association Malta and Black Lives Matter Malta, which called for them to be withdrawn.

Both Malta Public Transport and Mapfre have insisted that the campaign was a “totally innocent” one with no racial undertones.

In its statement, the NCPE said that while the stereotypical depictions “might have been unintentional”, the adverts should be withdrawn nonetheless due to their “problematic portrayal of gender and race.”