Britain's broadcasting watchdog criticized the BBC Monday after ageing rock wildman Iggy Pop used the expression "Paki shop" on live television.

Pop made the comment during an interview after playing a set at the Glastonbury Festival in June, telling BBC 2 about how much he enjoyed walking around north London.

"The beauty of being me is that you can wear expensive clobber and you can walk down Camden High Street at a Paki shop..." he said, in rambling comments late at night.

The presenters did not say anything about it at the time, but the BBC issued an apology the following day, saying Pop was probably not aware that the expression had passed out of "polite usage" in the last 30 years.

"Iggy Pop is one of the wildest men in rock music and, as such, he has a built-in content advisory warning," said the BBC, which received two complaints about the remark.

But the Ofcom watchdog said the term breached broadcasting guidelines.

The BBC "failed in its responsibility to ensure that the offence caused was justified by the context, for example by lessening it through issuing an on-air apology as soon as possible after the incident occurred," it said.

"Paki shop" used to be a widely used British term for a small grocery store, generally run by Pakistani or Indian families, which typically open later at night or on weekends than other shops.

It is now seen by many as having offensive or racist overtones.

Can you get a '6 Paki' at a Paki shop?

As for the tags on this thread, we know you're not a paki, you're mexican, right?

^ I need a paki of cigarrettes.

durka durka durka jihad time!

I've never heard that term before.

I think it shows Iggy Pop to be more brain dead than bigoted, though. It was a stupid and irresponsible trip of the tongue. We've had similar cases here where tv and radio personalities slipped up and said some stupid crap. I mean, who in their right mind would use such a term so casually on television?

Yeah, guess one who uses the term too casually off television, kinda like that senator who used the term "white nigger" on televisio.

As bad as it is, I have a soft spot for the excellent work Iggy did in the show The Adventures of Pete and Pete... just classic

Fucking porchmonkeys are seeing racism in every corner nowadays. Luckily I pay attention to what I say.

I'm going to start calling convience stores here 'Paki Marts'

It might mean other things to other people, but I have around 3 pakistani friends (as both i and they'd say, "paki") and they seem to take the term as nothing more than an abbreviation of "pakistani". People need to learn to laugh at this shit, because honestly, it's not offensive. Just people getting pissed off about dumb shit.

we may live in a very liberal world in alot of ways nowadays but just think......watchdogs and censors still need jobs. They'll be nit picky over anything as small as this.

It's not so much the use of the abbreviatated Paki that's the problem, it's the use of Paki in conjunction with quickie marts as was stated in the article. It's the context that people found offensive. Some people think it's a laugh riot when Carlos Mencia tosses the word beaner around but it's another thing entirely when the minute men are shouting it out and putting it on flyers at protests. While I think it's a little over the top that Ofcom got its panties in a bunch over what Iggy Pop said, I don't know what else they expect from the BBC at this point. A written apology in Iggy Pop's blood? Perhaps a public flogging on C4 might be an appropriate response. Gawd. I mean really. What do they want? The BBC apologized the following day. I really can't think of a better way this could have been handled.

White people get made fun of all the time, and I laugh at it like everyone else. Hell, white people do just as stupid crap as anybody else, and we have some of the dumbest mannorisms on the face of this earth. Just watch the Dave Chappell show. It's not hard to guess when someone's doing a "white person" impression.

People need to get over some stuff and just laugh it off, or at least not get so defensive about it.

On that note, South Park is a good way to keep oneself in check. I feel bad for laughing at times, but sometimes I can't help it. It's one of my favorite shows. I know it's offensive, but offensive can be funny. In the right context. It can challenge our brains because we then have to think of what it is that's so offensive, and why. Or maybe not.

I really don't think Iggy Pop or the BBC meant to be offensive. Like the article pointed out, there were 2 complaints. 2. That's a far cry from say, for example, the uproar caused by Janet Jackson's unintentional wardrobe malfunction. Because you know, nipples are scary stuff, kids...

Those weren't complaints about Janet's nipples... I never heard a complaint, more like, "wow's"! LOL

hahaha, the FCC said they had thousands of complaints over Janet Jackson's nipple! It wasn't called Nipple Gate for nuthin'!!

Hey, I'm no perve, but janet jackson is still super hot for her age. And if I had a kid and they saw her nipple on accident, I would tell him that he just saw a piece of history.

mencia is a turd sandwich, i've been tempted to do a youtube video of his show and cut out his racist jokes to prove what a one-trick-pony he is. the few times he's done non-race jokes they weren't too bad, but most the time it's bleh!

Just an add on... I talked to my born and raised pakistani co-worker this morning while we were running and asked him about this comment. He told me that whoever complained about this was an idiot because 'paki shop' is the same thing as saying 'KFC' instead of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Pretty much he laughed and told me some people should grow up.

'Paki shop' is old man talk really. It wasn't offensive back in the early days when the pakistanis and Indians were immigrating (according to the convo I just had with my mother). So "I'm just heading down the paki shop" would be perfectly acceptable back then, but saying something like that now is seen to be an ignorant, racist attitude. It is very odd how the work 'paki' is offensive, when all it is is an abbreviation.

and yeah, you have to salute South Park for sticking their middle finger up the politically corrects arseholes of the world.

Carlos Mencia isn't even mexican.

And he's not funny.

He's like Andrew Dice Clay after a tanning salon accident.