Public Still Concerned By Strong Language In Advertising, Says Report
The use of strong language on television, radio, in print and on outdoor advertising remains a matter of concern for most adults, according to new research published by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the BBC, the Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC) and the Independent Television Commission (ITC). For the most part, perceptions of the severity of swear words and terms of abuse has not changed since a similar survey two years ago, with the exception of terms of racist abuse, which now cause more concern, perhaps due to the high incidence of racist violence.
Stephen Whittle, director of the BSC commented: “Although there is an acceptance that swearing and offensive language is used in daily life and may be appropriate if a programme is aimed at adults, people would prefer their homes to remain an expletive deleted zone for children.”
The four words rated most severe by respondents has not changed since 1998. However the word “nigger” has moved from its previous position as 11th most severe to 5th most severe, with 42% of respondents saying it constitutes “very severe” swearing. Similarly, the term “Paki”, which was previously placed as 17th most severe is now 10th, with 34% regarding it as “very severe” swearing. The report found that around 50% of respondents thought that these words were unacceptable for use in TV broadcasting, even post-watershed.
While concern about racial abuse has increased, the perceived severity of some other, reasonably severe words has decreased. “Bollocks” is 8th most offensive, down from 6th, “shag” is 11th, down from 8th and “twat” is 13th, down from 10th. However, across the board it is generally felt that the use of swear words and terms of abuse before the watershed is unacceptable, mainly due to parents’ desire to protect their children from hearing strong language. It was thought that parents should be able to rely on the responsible use of the watershed in this matter.
The acceptability of strong language, including pre-watershed if on the milder end of the scale, was found to depend very much on context. Appropriately scheduled ‘adult’ programming such as drama, film, comedy and documentaries could acceptably include swearing, as could contexts where swearing was editorially justified- 73% said expletives in situations of shock were the most acceptable, while the same percentage thought routine use of swear words was the least acceptable.
The expectations for different channels varied as well, with BBC1, as the main channel paid for by TV licences judged most harshly for strong language, while pay-TV channels, where people buy in voluntarily and can stop if they wished, enjoy the most tolerance when they broadcast swear words.
In addition, the survey also found that 81% of respondents said that advertisements should not contain strong language, even when broadcast after the watershed. 86% said strong language in outdoor advertising was less acceptable as it could not be avoided, and 95% said there should be strict controls on the language used on posters because they are seen by children. Over two thirds of respondents felt that similarly strict measures should be applied to the press, but the remaining third felt that the rules did not need to be so strict for the press, especially in targeted magazines where access could be controlled by the purchaser.
Christopher Graham, director general of the ASA said, “The ASA judges complaints about advertisements in their context. This research will help advertisers to distinguish between what might be acceptable in targeted media such as magazines and what causes offence on posters in the high street.”
Patricia Hodgson, chief executive of the ITC, said, “The research clearly shows that strong language is still a matter of great concern to viewers, and we expect broadcasters and television advertisers to take careful note of these findings.”
A full copy of the report, entitled Delete Expletives? is available on the BSC website or from the offices of the BSC.
ASA: 020 7580 5555 BBC: 020 8743 8000 BSC: 020 7233 0544 ITC: 020 7255 3000
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