Watchdog Cans Tango Ad Following Complaints

The Advertising Standards Authority has banned a television ad for Tango, which shows a man rolling down a hill inside a carpet, following complaints from viewers that it could encourage dangerous behaviour.

The advertising watchdog ordered the ‘Tango Pipes’ execution, the latest in a series created by Clemmow Hornby Inge, to be taken off air after parents complained their children could be harmed whilst attempting to copy it.

The ad shows a man rolling down a hill in a carpet filled with oranges. The man crashes into a tree and is then hit by several large concrete pipes, which cause the oranges to explode all over him. The strapline reads: “You know when you’ve been Tango’d’.

The Advertising Standards Authority, which took over responsibility for the regulation of broadcast advertising at the beginning of this month, has received four complaints about the ad. One came from the relatives of a boy who was killed in an accident whilst playing with concrete pipes (see ASA Extends Powers Under New Regulatory Regime).

This is not the first time that the controversial Tango ads have fallen foul of advertising watchdogs. Back in March 2000 the Independent Television Commission banned an execution in which actors shouted at each other through megaphones after sixty-seven people complained they would lead to copycat bullying (see ITC Bans Tango Ad).

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

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