Advertisers Disciplined For Their Poor Taste

Bad taste seems to be a theme running through this month’s report from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). Numerous complaints were received by the Authority about offensive and distasteful advertising.

The campaign for Help The Aged, which ran in the national press, received complaints that it was offensive and frightening. The ad featured a photo showing six pairs of feet all bearing death tags, and underneath was the caption: “Thousands of elderly people will stop feeling cold this winter.”

Sony Computer Entertainment also received similar complaints in reference to a poster ad for Tekken 3, a Sony Playstation game (seen here), which pictured a dismembered, shrouded body on a mortuary slab. The caption read: “Do not underestimate the power of Playstation.” Complainants also referred to the ad as containing excessively violent imagery.

The jeans manufacturer Diesel was also subjected to criticisms for its cinema commercial which pictured soldiers in the trenches during World War One. One soldier shoots another because he is jealous of his Diesel jeans, and critics observed that it trivialised WWI and the death of so many people.

Lastly, complainants targeted an advert for BT’s EasyReach pagers which showed a young man appearing to vomit into a toilet, under the caption: “Where are you? It’s your round”. Critics were concerned that as well as being distasteful and unsuitable for the national press, the advert was likely to encourage and condone excessive drinking.

Two of these complaints concerning bad taste were upheld by the ASA. The watchdog asked Diesel to withdraw its war commercial, especially due to its cinema showing being so close to Remembrance Day. Sony also got pulled up by the regulator on its ad for Tekken 3, as it considered that the advert looked macabre and realistic and likely to cause widespread offence.

Advertising Standards Authority: 0171 580 5555