ASA

Banned print advertisement analysis

Why do we need the ASA?

The ASA are needed to protect the public especially those most likely to be offended or influenced by misleading, harmful or potentially offensive advertisement, such as children from these types of adverts. They have the power to act on complaints from the public and other companies to ensure consumers are not exposed to false, misleading or offensive advertisement. Without an organisation like the ASA there would be no regulation on advertising and the watershed on TV would become almost irrelevant as there would be know way of ensuring TV adverts were appropriate for the programmes audience. This also applies to internet advertising and print advertising (posters and billboards) as inappropriate content could be placed out side of schools and other locations where it could be seen by children or other at risk audiences. As well as offensive medias the ASA protects consumers against misleading advertisements, to prevent companies and organisations making false claims or not making their meaning clear to consumers. Therefore the ASA is a vital organisation.      

Charity advertising

Banned Cancer Research advertising campaign

The image above shows a marketing letter that was posted through peoples door to raise awareness and money for Cancer Research Uk. The ASA banned the advert based on complaints that it was unclear that it was marketing material and that the content of the letter could be seen as both threatening and distressing. The ASA upheld the decision as they believed that it was not made clear that the envelope contained marketing material from Cancer Research UK and they thought that, when delivered directly to recipients own homes, the text was likely to be received as a threatening message and they therefore concluded that it breached the Code. They also believed that the text could be seen as distressing as it suggested the letter from coming from Cancer itself. 

Department of Energy and Climate Change banned TV advert

The link above shows a TV advert for the Department of Energy and Climate Change. People complained about the advertisement claiming that the ad was political in nature, the theme and content of the ad could be distressing for children who saw it, the ad should not have been shown when children were likely to be watching television, the ad was misleading because it presented human induced climate change as a fact when that was not the case, the claim "over 40% of the CO2 was coming from ordinary everyday things" was misleading, the representation of CO2 as a rising cloud of black smog was misleading, the claims about the possible advent of strange weather and flooding in the UK, and associated imagery, were exaggerated, distressing and misleading. The ASA upheld the decision on the basis  that imagery of flooding together with the claim "Temperatures and sea levels are rising. Extreme weather events such as storms, floods and heat waves will become more frequent and intense" was likely to mislead and could be distressing. They however did not upheld anything in relation to the other complaints saying that the advert is already not allowed to be shown between children's shows and that climate change is already frequently discussed topic in schools and with all age groups.

Diet Coke 'Sexy Gardener' TV advertisement

The link above shows a Diet Coke advert. The advert was accepted by the ASA. However I believe it to be offensive to both men and women. The advert seems to be going backwards in terms of modern attitudes towards sexism and gender equality and portrays an inappropriate and inaccurate representation of both sexes. The advertisement objectifies men by showing a man removing his top in a seductive manner and in slow motion and by suggesting this image somehow improves the appeal of the product it appears to be implying that the way the man looks is the most important message, which presents the actor as a sex object. If the advert had been of a similar format but with a woman, instead of a man, removing her clothes there would have been a much stronger reaction, which is wrong as the advert is offensive to men in exactly the same way it would be to women. As previously stated I also believe the advertisement to be offensive to women, as the female characters in the advert are seen trying to make the man take off his T-shirt and are then seen visibly drooling over him. This portrays women in a certain way, suggesting them to be shallow and silly. The advertisement is inappropriate, especially for a younger audience, due to the image of the man removing his shirt and it's sexual connotations and when accompanied with the music which contains the lyrics "I just want to make love to you" the sexuality of the advert is emphasised. For these reasons I believe the advertisement breaks ASA regulations as it is offensive to both men and women and would be inappropriate if seen by children due to it's sexual nature.  

 

Applying theories to advertisements 

      

Lynx poster: 

 

Blumer's theory has been used to create a diversion for it's audience as a form of entertainment in the Lynx poster advertisement. It could also be interpreted that there is use of personal relationships in the advert as by using an image of a female character alongside the slogan suggests a link between using the product and sexual relationships between males and females. In relation to Maslow's Hierarchy of needs the advertisement hints at a male audiences physiological sexual needs. In reference to Hall's theory of coding and decoding the dominant position that the producer would have been attempting to portray, especially from a male point of view, is the idea that using the product advertised will lead to an increased amount of female attention, and ultimately sex. The male audience that the product is aimed at is likely to have a dominant position, however a female viewing the advert is more likely to have an oppositional reading of the media text as, although they would understand what the advert is trying to say, they may oppose the stereotypical, sexualised image of females being shown  and the message of the advert possibly finding it offensive and inappropriate.    

 

Hovis print advert:       

Blumer's theory has been used for the purpose of surveillance by the producers of the Hovis bread advert, as the advertisement is attempting to inform the audience that Hovis is the best bread and has been awarded for it in order to persuade them to buy the product. And they would have wished the dominant position (Hall's theory) to be that Hovis is the best bread product and should be purchased, however the audience showed a very different reaction. There was a strong oppositional reading that lead to many complaints as many thought it may have had racist undertones  and was inappropriate due to the time it was released- at the time of the election. 

Lancome print advert:

Blumer's theory is reflected in the Lancome advert in relation to personal identity, as it is being suggested that by using the product advertised the female audience the advert is aimed at can look like the actress in the advert, meaning that the producers is attempting to get the audience to identify themselves with the character in the advert. In relation to Maslow's Hierarchy of needs the advert applies to the esteem needs of the audience as it is implying that using the product will give you more confidence and that having flawless skin will make you feel more beautiful giving you more self-worth and admiration from others, therefore encouraging them to purchase the product. The only oppositional view (Hall's theory) really possible is that as the image is airbrushed it gives an unrealistic image and portrays a beauty and perfection that is not possible, putting pressure on the audience to look a certain way.        

Diet Coke TV advert:

In the Diet coke 'Sexy Gardener' Blumer's theory can be applied as it is a Diversion for the audience as the producer has attempted to make it entertaining and interesting for their target audience in order to encourage them to purchase their product. It is also a representation of personal relationships because it is portraying a fantasised version of a romantic and physical relationship that will appeal to a wide audience, especially females. Maslow's Hierarchy of needs can also be applied to the advertisement. The commercial covers physiological needs with it's sexual nature, love and belonging needs with the relationship between the characters and perhaps even esteem needs with the importance of looking good embedded deeply in the adverts oppositional message. The dominant position (Hall's theory) is the idea that the product, Diet Coke, links to a happier and better life. However there are oppositional reading and even possible aberrant readings. The advert caused many complaints about its sexist undertones, the ad can be seen as offensive to both genders and a backwards step in terms of modern views of gender equality- this could be an oppositional reading or an aberrant reading as the purposeful message of the media text could be lost, forgotten or missed due to the other connotations that can be drawn from it. 

Why do advertising standards exist and do you think advertising standards are breached by companies? 

 

The ASA are needed to protect the public especially those most likely to be offended or influenced by misleading, harmful or potentially offensive advertisement, such as young children, from these types of advertisements. They have the power to act on complaints from the public and other companies to ensure consumers are not exposed to false, misleading or offensive advertisement. Without an organisation like the ASA there would be no regulation on advertising and the watershed on TV would become almost irrelevant as there would be no way of ensuring TV adverts were appropriate for the programmes audience or the time of day it would be shown. This also applies to internet advertising and print advertising (posters and billboards) as inappropriate content could be placed out side of schools and other locations where it could be seen by children or other at risk audiences. As well as offensive or harmful media texts the ASA protects consumers against misleading advertisements, to prevent companies and organisations making false claims or not making their meaning clear to consumers. Therefore the ASA is a vital organisation and exist for this reason. An example of their early work showing the influence they have had in the past and still have now is the ban on Cigarette adverts on TV that was put into play in 1965. This decision revolutionised cigarette advertising and is still important today as cigarette companies still can't advertise on television.

Advertising standards are definitely breached by some companies. Adverts are released that are seen by audiences as offensive, harmful or misleading and it is the continuation of the production of such adverts that causes complaints from audiences and the need for the ASA to act upon these complaints.

For example the Lynx poster campaign showing a woman under a beach shower in  bikini accompanied by the slogan, "The cleaner you are, the dirtier you get" breaches advertising standards as the image, especially when seen with the slogan, can be viewed as offensive to women because it portrays them in a certain, stereotypical way, presents women as purely sex objects and suggests that the only thing a male must do to get female attention is use the product advertised. It can also be seen as harmful, there were complaints that the poster was displayed near schools where it would be seen by young children, the message of the poster is inappropriate for such a young audience and for that reason could be harmful for them. It seems highly likely that the company were aware of the possibility that the advertisement would be banned due to these obvious breaches, however they still choose to produce and present the posters. This may be because they knew the advert would appeal to their target audience, chiefly young men. The advert can be applied to Blumer's theory as it has been used to create a diversion for it's audience as a form of entertainment, it could also be interpreted that there is use of personal relationships in the advert as by using an image of a female character alongside the slogan suggests a link between using the product and sexual relationships between males and females, the fact that the audience is able to use the advert for these two reasons shows why it would appeal to them. In relation to Maslow's Hierarchy of needs the advertisement hints at a male audiences physiological sexual needs, so again will appeal to them because of this. In reference to Hall's theory of coding and decoding the dominant position that the producer would have been attempting to portray, especially from a male point of view, is the idea that using the product advertised will lead to an increased amount of female attention, and ultimately sex. The male audience that the product is aimed at is likely to have a dominant position, meaning they may be convinced to purchase the product, which is of course the purpose of the advertisement. Lynx could also have chosen to produce a controversial advert that could be banned in order to get it banned. It is said that no publicity is bad publicity, and getting the advert banned would mean the appearance of the advert in news articles (especially online) and blogs everywhere. News that the advert has been disallowed will encourage people to look it up and find out why, meaning more people will actually see the advert than if it was shown in the normal way, giving them a lot of publicity. Therefore the company may be manipulating the system to give them a form of free and effective advertising by banning the advert.

There was also a Barnardo's poster campaign that breached advertising standards that can be used as another example. The 'Silver Spoon' campaign featured four images that showed a baby with a different object in its mouth. The first image shows a baby with a silver spoon in its mouth and the other three show a bottle of methylated spirits, a heroine syringe and a cockroach. Although the first image does not breach standards when accompanied with others it creates a different effect that does breach standards. The images were complained about as a collective because of their distressing nature, the images of babies with such unclean, harmful objects in their mouths were seen by many as upsetting and inappropriate. They could also be seen as offensive as, alongside the slogan 'There are no silver spoons in poverty' the posters seem to be suggesting that all children born into families without much money will live in squalor and end up an alcoholic and a drug addict. This would be offensive to those in such a position as it suggests that they cannot look after their children properly and their children can't ever make anything of their lives without the charities help, which is of course not the case with all families with less money. In these ways the advertisement breaches advertising standards. However the reason behind choosing a possibly controversial advert would be very different for Barnardo's when compared to the Lynx advertisement. They would wish to create a controversial image in order to shock their audience, so that they will feel they must donate to the charity to stop such awful things as shown in the advert.   

 

Unhate campaign  

 

The 'Unhate foundation' describe themselves as and organisation who aim to tackle;

• •  the fight against hate and discrimination in all its forms;
• •  the support of new generations, where youth are the main actors and beneficiaries of concrete projects, communication campaigns and education activities;
• •  the dissemination of the social impact of Art, as the key tool of the Foundation in its activities against hate and discrimination.

In 2011 they embarked on an advertising campaign linked to clothing brand Benetton. The print images showed in the campaign featured pictures of famous politicians and influential political figures kissing. The image below shows an example of an image used. 

       

 

There was also a video advertisement which is shown below. It features a range of people in age, gender, religion, sexuality, race etc. kissing and showing different kinds of love and affection, which then contrasts with the images of hate crime and hate riots. The advert portrays a very powerful message.

 

   

Complaints 

 

Benetton withdrew the photograph featuring Pope Benedict XVI kissing a senior Egyptian imam on the lips after the Vatican denounced it as an unacceptable provocation.The image that was withdrawn is shown below. 

 

 

 

 

Modern controversial advertising campaigns 

 

Ketone Elite

 

 

• People complained about an online advertisement on the companies website that claimed you could receive free trials of the product alongside the claim, "I discovered the Ketone Elite program and lost 5kg in 2 weeks. After consuming it for a month I lost 9kg." Ketone Elite is a diet pill product. 
• The advertisement provoked  three complainants from members of the public and one form a Trading Standards Officer.
• The complaints claimed that the advertisement was misleading, because it was not clear that consumers would be automatically charged a monthly fee if they did not cancel. The Trading Standards Officer also challenged whether the amount of weight lost described in the testimonial in ad (b) was compatible with good medical and nutritional practice.
• Ketone Elite responded by saying they were no longer marketing their products and their websites were not active.
• The advertisement breached advertising standards by being misleading and harmful. 
• The decision was upheld and the adverts banned.

 

Paddy Power

 

 

• Paddy Power has had its Oscar Pistorious advert banned after the ASA said it brought advertising “into disrepute”. 
• The add encouraged readers to vote on the outcome of his murder trial, received a record 5,525 complaints when it appeared in The Sun on Sunday. Complaints were upheld by the ASA. 
• Many people complained about the advert  due to making a  reference to a high profile murder trial. Also that the add would be interpreted by readers as being related to the sensitive issues surrounding the trial.
• What Paddy Power said that they “strongly believed the ad did not cause serious or widespread offence”
• This advert would be braking the advert code of being offensive because of the link between the previous thoughts of him being a great person to the link of gambling on the crime that he has committed. And the complaint was upheld.

 

 Heinz

 

•  There were 215 complaints regarding the Heinz 'Gay Kiss' TV advertisement shown above.
• The Heinz Deli Mayo ad has been pulled after less than a week on air after viewers complained to the Advertising Standards Authority that it was "offensive" and "inappropriate to see two men kissing". Other complaints include that the ad was "unsuitable to be seen by children" and that it raised the difficult problem of parents having to discuss the issue of same-sex relationships with younger viewers. Some believed that it was offensive to have the children calling one of their seemingly gay parents 'mum'.
• The advertisement was pulled by Heinz themselves without intervention from the ASA. This was a controversial decision as some may suggest that company are giving in to homophobia and should continue to show support for the normalisation and acceptance of gay relationships. For this reason if the ASA had had to get involved, they may not have pulled the advert despite complaints. There is nothing in the ad that goes against the codes.

 

Lions Gate Uk 'Sin City 2'

 

 

• The advert above is a Lions Gate advert for the film 'Sin City 2' that was presented on the side of public buses.
• Two people complained about the advert.
• 1. one complainant objected that the ad was unsuitable for public display in an untargeted medium where it could be seen by children; and 2. both complainants objected that the ad was offensive because it was overtly sexual, sexist and degrading to women.
• Lions Gate stated that,'the media owner had approved the image specifically for use on a bus. The poster was based on the style used in the graphic novels on which the film was based, and that the characters therefore looked more cartoon-like and stylised than realistic people. They considered that this 'comic book' execution meant that the ad would not cause offence because it was not realistic. They did not believe that the image of Jessica Alba was overtly sexual, sexist or degrading to women, and noted that such a look was not out of place in the windows of some fashion retailers'.
• The advert was suggested to breach the code by being harmful and offensive for being overly sexualised and degarding to women.
• The ASA decided that the companies claim that the image was unrealistic as it was based on a comic book style character lessened the offense, as it is not based on real people and that the image was only 'mildly sexual in nature' and so was not harmful. They therefore did not upheld the decision and the advert was allowed to be continued.