Note: This advice is given by the CAP Executive about non-broadcast advertising. It does not constitute legal advice. It does not bind CAP, CAP advisory panels or the Advertising Standards Authority.
Marketers who show or allude to sexual violence must take extreme care not to offend or to condone anti-social or violent behaviour. A marketer that used its product name, Shark, as a play on the colloquial term “sharking”, meaning looking for a sexual partner, had complaints upheld about posters that showed people with either bruises, scratches or bites. The claims “shark victim” and “Bring out the Beast”, together with the visual, were considered by the ASA Council to be alluding to and condoning sexual violence (Shark AG, 3 July 2002). A poster for an alcoholic beverage, Red Square, showed scratches on a man's naked back. Not only did it consider that the poster condoned violence, the ASA ruled that the ad implied sexual activity and breached the alcohol section of the Code (Halewood International Ltd, 22 May 2002). Similarly, a Diesel poster showing the backs of a topless man and woman covered in whip marks was deemed likely to cause serious or widespread offence (Diesel (London) Ltd, 23 November 2005).
Even executions that are intended to be light-hearted have fallen foul of the Code’s requirements on grounds of taste and decency, social responsibility or condoning violent behaviour. Complaints about a poster showing a dominatrix with a man on all fours on a leash were upheld because the ASA considered that claims such as “a stiletto in the privates” suggested an unacceptable level of violence (Virgin Mobile, 27 February 2002). Such themes might be more acceptable when used in better targeted media: a complaint about a mailing for a locksmith showing a woman's hands tied behind her back with a chain and locked with a padlock was not upheld. The complainant objected that the ad was pornographic and condoned domestic violence but the ASA considered that the image was not explicit and, in conjunction with the caption "Locks for all occasions ..." was likely to be seen simply as a light-hearted reference to consensual bondage practices (Fixings Warehouse, 25 October 2006).
The ASA dismissed over 100 complaints about the use of the word “slag” in the claim "slag of all snacks" but, when the marketer changed the claim to "Hurt me, you slag", considered the poster condoned personal or sexual violence and ruled it unacceptable (Unilever Bestfoods UK Ltd, 28 August 2002).
Ads that suggest violence towards women are especially likely to fall foul of the Code. The ASA has ruled against an ad that featured a caravan and contained the text "this is where I left Kate, Lucy and Michelle begging for more", because it was considered to allude to entrapment and sexual violence (Nokia UK Ltd, 3 March 2004), and a lingerie ad that featured a woman wearing gloves and wrapping a stocking round another woman she was siting astride. The ASA considered the ad could be seen as pornographic and condoning sexual violence and strangulation (Agent Provocateur, 11 February 2004). The ASA has, however, ruled as acceptable a magazine ad that featured a woman surrounded by semi-naked men, despite the complainant's objections that it alluded to gang-rape (Calvin Klein Jeans, 23 June 2004), and a national press ad that depicted a naked woman wrapped in a cable, because it considered the ad did not feature violence or aggression (Countryside Properties plc, 28 January 2004). It is worth stressing that the acceptability of ads is likely to depend on the media in which they appear: the ASA did not uphold complaints about an internet banner ad, for a film, containing a blood-splattered image of a woman hanging upside down and the text "Don't look here. It's torture."; the ASA considered that the ad was acceptable because it had appeared on a website targeted at an adult audience, who would understand that the ad reflected the content of the film (Sony Pictures Releasing UK, October 2007). It also rejected complaints that a lingerie ad that featured a woman holding a large kitchen knife alluded to sado-machocistic behaviour. The ASA concluded that, in Vogue, the ad was unlikely to offend (Bendon UK Ltd, 19 January 2005).
Although the ASA has had to consider few complaints about sexual violence towards men, marketers should be mindful that allusions to sexual assault, whether on men or women, should be treated with caution. A cinema commercial that was accused of stereotyping gay men and alluding to sexually predatory behaviour was found to be acceptable because of its humour (Yahoo! UK Ltd, 12 February 2003). Marketers should nevertheless take care when contemplating an ad that depicts or implies any type of sexual aggression or violence.
Marketers who are raising awareness of, or campaigning against, sexual violence are treated with more leniency but should nevertheless take account of the potential pitfalls.
See also entries ‘Taste amd Decency’, ‘Social Responsibility’, ‘Violence’ and ‘Anti-social Behaviour’.
Last modified : 29 July 2010