<text>  A BBC boss has insulted nearly half the country by dismissing them using marketing jargon. Creative director Alan Yentob was trying to rebut the allegation that the corporation caters only for the metropolitan elite. The executive, who earns around 330,000 a year, insisted that the BBC appeals to all sorts of audiences because it airs programmes that reach out to... C2s and DEs. Scroll down for video . BBC creative director Alan Yentob has been mocked for using marketing speak to deny that the broadcaster was elitist describing working class people as C2s and Ds as he defended Jeremy Clarksons sacking . Mr Yentobs comments quickly attracted the attention of social media users, who criticised the way he had described viewers . Robert MacDonald, tweeted: Did Alan Yentob really just say lots of our programmes reach out to C2 Ds in rejecting BBC is for metropolitan elite? C2 and DE are terms used by marketing professionals to describe the working classes more than 47 per cent of the UK population. Mr Yentobs extraordinary declaration on Newsnight on Wednesday was an attempt to prove what an inclusive organisation the BBC is, amid concern that a huge swathe of its audience will stop tuning in now Jeremy Clarkson has been axed from Top Gear. However, his comments backfired as viewers used social media to accuse him of arrogance and sounding so out of touch they thought it was a spoof. They accused Mr Yentob of using obscure jargon that only the metropolitan elite would understand, in a way that suggested that working class viewers are a niche audience. John Hemming, Liberal Democrat MP for Birmingham Yardley, accused Mr Yentob of arrogance which only confirmed his status as part of the metropolitan elite. He said: In essence, hes admitting that the BBC doesnt do much for the working classes, and he is doing that in a way that is not making it easy for many people to understand. Mr Yentob who earns more than 180,000 a year as creative director as well as an estimated 150,000 fee for editing and presenting the BBC arts series Imagine made the remarks as he attempted to explain the decision to fire Clarkson. Mr Yentob was appearing on Newsnight to defend the sacking of Jeremy Clarkson, whose contract is not being renewed after he attacked Top Gear producer Oisin Tymon . Twitter user Sacred Antinous wrote: Yentob describes all those who arent metropolitan elite as C2DEs. Our licence fee is so well spent on this man of the people newsnight The terms C2s and Ds are marketing terms to describe working class people . Presenter Emily Maitlis asked if getting rid of the Top Gear host would make it harder for the BBC to reach a demographic... increasingly disregarded by a corporation which plays largely to the metropolitan elite. Apparently unaware of the irony, Mr Yentob responded: I dont know that I would buy that, actually, about the metropolitan elite. There are quite a lot of programmes which reach out to audiences which are C2s, DEs, which arent the metropolitan elite. The terms are part of the Approximated Social Grade, which defines social groups by occupation. AB 22 per cent of the UK broadly covers higher and intermediate managerial. C1 31 per cent is supervisory, clerical and junior managerial. C2 21 per cent is skilled manual while DE 26 per cent is semi-skilled and unskilled, plus the unemployed. Others questioned whether the BBC really were keen to make programmes that appealed to all audiences . Toby Wood said: Only metropolitan elite luvvies speak like Alan Yentob on BBCNewsnight - hes in more opaque bubble than Westminster politicians Clarkson A BBC spokesman said: Theres nothing elitist about making programmes and services used by 97 per cent of people every week, and thats the point Alan made. Mr Yentob admitted that axing Clarkson marked a bad day for the BBC. But he said director general Lord Hall felt he had no choice after the Top Gear stars unprovoked physical and verbal attack on his producer. However, he refused to rule out Clarkson returning to the BBC. Clarkson attacked Mr Tymon pictured leaving him in such a state that he later took himself to AE . The BBC has said that Top Gear will continue without Clarkson, but there are doubts as to whether co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May will return . Consumers are sometimes grouped into classes or social grades used to describe their social grade and earnings for market research purposes. Social grade A denotes people of upper middle class who have higher manergerial, administrative or professional roles, B and C1 are middle class, C2 are the skilled working class, D are working class and E are low grade workers or state pensioners with no other income. These social grade demographics were originally developed by the National Readership Survey to provide audience research for advertising in newspapers and magazines to show the audience for each publication. However, they now more widely used in market and statistical research and analysis, as well as social commentary. 