ASA Gives Ali G The Thumbs Up

The ASA has refused to uphold complaints against a poster for the film Ali G Indahouse despite accusations that it encouraged young people to smoke cannabis.

Those objecting to the poster, which featured Ail G holding up two cigarette papers against a smoke filled background, claimed that it associated the drug with a popular TV personality and as such was “socially irresponsible”.

United International Pictures, which commissioned the poster, acknowledged that Ali G’s screen character had a long standing association with cannabis smoking, but argued that his portrayal of the drug was ironic and integral to his role as a spoof figure who disparaged, rather than encouraged, the lifestyle he portrayed. The company claimed that children would not understand the relevance of the cigarette papers and disagreed that the poster encouraged young people to smoke cannabis.

The ASA acknowledged that Ali G was a well known comedy character who parodied street culture and considered that those too young to understand the significance of the cigarette papers were unlikely to be encouraged to smoke cannabis. The authority concluded that the poster was not socially irresponsible and dismissed the complaints.

Earlier in the year the ASA ordered Universal International Pictures to withdraw a controversial poster for the new Ali G film after it generated over a hundred complaints in less than a week (see ASA Orders Withdrawal Of Ali G Poster).

ASA: 020 7580 5555 www.asa.org.uk