The poster advertising campaign for Bravo’s broadcast of the US comedy programme The Howard Stern Show has caused a flood of complaints from around the country and led the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to ask for the ads to be removed.
The posters, created by Mother, quote from US ‘shock-jock’ disc jockey Howard Stern’s radio programme, shown each night on Bravo at 10pm. The quotes illustrate Stern’s often controversial opinions and humour. The promotional campaign featured a series of billboard posters which included the quotes “An ugly man with no money might as well cut off his penis” and “It’s OK for a man to commit adultery if his wife is ugly”.
Over 220 people from around the country complained that quotes were offensive and insulting. Bravo said that the ads lifted the quotes directly from the programme and that they accurately represented the content of the show. Whilst acknowledging that the majority of readers would understand this, the ASA nevertheless concluded that the posters might cause serious or widespread offence.
Bravo, which is owned by pay-TV group Flextech, has been asked by the ASA to remove the advertisements and take pre-publication advice from the Committee of Advertising Practice Copy Advice.
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