ASA Adjudication on Motorola Ltd

Ad

A national press ad and three posters for the Motorola RAZR 2 mobile phone:

a. The press ad appeared in The Daily Telegraph and showed a woman wearing PVC clothes. She was styled like a Samurai warrior and was standing with her hands clasped in front of her, holding a mobile phone at an angle, so that it resembled a knife. Text stated "MUSIC TO YOUR EARS EXTERNAL MUSIC CONTROLS STEREO BLUETOOTH RAZR 2 SHARPER THAN EVER". The number two was shaped like a knife slash.

b. One poster showed a man and woman facing each other, posing in "fighting" positions. They were both wearing PVC clothes and held mobile phones at an angle, so that they resembled knives. The man wore headphones and had a tattoo on his upper arm shaped in the form of a knife slash resembling the number two. Text stated "EMAIL MUSIC WEB RAZR 2 SHARPER THAN EVER". The number two was shaped like a knife slash and was similar to the man's tattoo.

c. A second poster showed the same man wearing PVC clothes and holding a mobile phone at an angle so that it resembled a knife. He wore headphones and his tattoo was visible. He posed in a stance as if he were ready to fight. Text stated "STEREO BLUETOOTH WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER 11 EXTERNAL MUSIC CONTROLS RAZR 2 SHARPER THAN EVER". The number two was shaped like a knife slash and was similar to the man's tattoo.

d. A third poster, on London Underground escalator panels, showed a woman wearing PVC clothes, holding a mobile phone at an angle so that it resembled a knife. She posed in a stance as if she were ready to fight. A poster, on accompanying panels, showed an image of the phone with the Motorola logo and the text "EMAIL MUSIC".

Issue

The complainants challenged whether:

1. national press ad and

2. the posters

were offensive and irresponsible, because they believed the ads glamorised violence, particularly knife-related violence.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

1. & 2. Motorola said the ads were part of a broader RAZR 2 campaign which featured highly stylized fantasy characters engaged in energized, fluid dance movements, rather than confrontation.  They said the highly stylised images were designed not to be realistic or to present the characters as aspirational.  They believed the images clearly presented the characters as existing within a fantasy environment, reminiscent of characters such as Xena: Warrior Princess.  

They added that the current campaign highlighted and reinforced previous marketing messages for the RAZR phone, relating to the "razor" thinness and the fact that the phone represented a device that was on the cutting edge of technology.  They said the tagline "SHARPER THAN EVER" was used to denote the phone's improved technological features over the original.

Motorola believed the ads did not condone or glorify knife violence because they made no reference to knives or violence and the campaign was not about depicting or encouraging physical harm.  They said it was clear that the fantasy characters in the ads were holding mobile phones, not knives.  They added that the man's tattoo was not intended to be a depiction of a knife slash and clearly represented the signature "2" from the RAZR 2 logo.  Furthermore, they said ad (c), which was the most used image in the campaign, showed the male character looking sideways at his phone, whilst listening to music on his wireless headphones. They argued that the text in this ad supported their intention which was to convey the wireless music capabilities of the phone; a key differentiator for the product.

They believed it was a significant point that it was a national campaign and that only a small number of complaints had been received.

The Daily Telegraph said they did not consider the press ad glamorised knife violence.  They said the image used was a highly stylised depiction of a Samurai and therefore bore no relation to street or gang culture.  Furthermore, they considered their readership would not mistake it as such but rather they would understand the image was a metaphor for sharpness in the sense of style and shape.

Assessment

1. & 2. Not upheld

The ASA considered most readers would appreciate the ads were promoting the new RAZR 2 phone and would understand the link between the image of the phone, which when held at an angle resembled a razor, and the name of the product.   We agreed the characters were highly stylised but disagreed with Motorola that the ads made no reference to knives.  Although no direct reference was made the intended link that the product resembled a razor, a knife-like object, was clear.  

Although the models used in the ads were glamorous and the phone was being advertised as a razor-like product we did not think the ads either glamorised or condoned real violence.  The characters looked fantastical and were not representative of today's culture.  We considered that most readers would not see the images as promoting violence or giving the message that violence was to be, in any way, condoned.  We concluded that the ads were not irresponsible and were unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence.

We investigated the ads under CAP Code clauses 2.2 (Responsible advertising), 5.1 (Decency) and 11.1 (Violence and anti-social behaviour) but did not find them in breach.

Action

No further action required.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)