Humour no defence to politically correct advertisement bans?

The Advertising Standards Complaints Board is generally a sensible and respected industry self-regulation body, but in two recent decisions the ASCB's rulings against advertisements may have surprised and concerned sections of the advertising industry and their clients.

Humorously risque advertisements such as Toyota's "Bugger" and Pfizer's "erection problem" ads for Viagra treated the viewing public as mature adults. By a majority the ASCB also recently allowed Toyota's "Sheep Shagger" advertisement. But before advertisers conclude that the boundaries have been successfully pushed back they should note that there is no guarantee that humour will save an advertisement. Two other decisions of the ASCB suggest that on a different day there may be a different result, and that there remains a risk of what might be considered to be "politically correct" censorship of advertising themes.

Towards the end of last year, a Tui billboard advertisement featured the words "There's nothing wrong with Miriam: Yeah, right", alluding to a reality show in which unsuspecting men competed for the affections of a transsexual model named Miriam. The show had not been without controversy, with a contestant subsequently suing the producers.

The advertisement was one of a popular and successful series of irreverent, "hard case" and topical "Yeah, right" advertisements for Tui beer.

An early indication that the complaint may have been motivated by political correctness was that the Victoria University of Wellington Students Association was a complainant.

In a majority decision, the Advertising Standards Complaints Board ruled that the advertisement not only breached the Code for People in Advertising, but was also in contravention of a person's basic human rights, and was accordingly "seriously offensive". The majority did not consider that the advertisement was saved by its humour and the complaint was upheld.

More recently, retailer The Warehouse ran an advertisement for its popular 1kg Easter egg, which is packaged in a box featuring an open-mouthed pig's head and the words "What a PIG".

The advertisement showed a girl holding the box, and included the words "What a Pig easter egg 1kg. You'll need a big appetite to get through this egg!"

These words were undoubtedly both amusing and true, but a complainant believed that the advertisement was marketed to young people and encouraged excessive consumption of chocolate.

It might be thought that the marketing of chocolate to young people is not particularly unusual or reprehensible, that it is traditional in New Zealand for children to be permitted to consume extra amounts of chocolate at Easter, and that an appropriate level of chocolate consumption is something that might safely be left to people to determine for themselves.

However, the advertisement was held by the Advertising Standards Complaints Board to have violated both Principles 2 and 3 of the Advertising of Food Code, as it had not been prepared with the requisite degree of social responsibility.

You might identify an inconsistency in the fact that you can sprinkle advertisements for utility vehicles with expletives referring to sodomy and references to sheep-shagging, but that your chocolate ad will be banned if it suggests that a child would need a big appetite to eat a large Easter egg all at once. This is something which will need to be taken into account by advertising agencies and their clients when devising amusing advertisements in future.

Enquiries and information

For more information on advertising issues, please call Alan Ringwood on 64 9 916 8925.