ASA Adjudication on British Telecommunications plc

Ad

A TV ad, for BT’s 24/7 Business service, showed Dragons' Den presenter Peter Jones working late in his darkened office. Gremlins (from the feature film of the same name) appeared from a lift and one chewed through a cable whilst Jones wasn’t looking. His computer malfunctioned and as he went to try and fix it the Gremlins caused more havoc with the electrics, cackling, photocopying themselves, swinging from the ceiling fan and tampering with the mains. A voice-over at the end stated "Because you never know when an IT problem might strike, BT offers all business customers 24/7 IT and communications support."

The ad was cleared by Clearcast with an ex-kids restriction, which meant it should not be shown in or around programmes made for, or specifically targeted at, children.

Issue

Eleven viewers challenged whether the scheduling restriction was sufficient, and objected that the ad was unsuitable to be broadcast at times when children might be watching, because they said their young children had been frightened by the Gremlins and some had suffered from nightmares as a result of seeing the ad.

BCAP TV Code

BCAP TV Scheduling Code

Response

Swarm advertising agency, on behalf of British Telecommunications plc (BT) said that, in the context of IT, the word "gremlin" had long been a synonym for "problem" and the ad sought to harness this analogy. They said, since the release of the 1980s' "Gremlins" films, the Gremlins characters had been famous with both adults and children as mischievous creatures who created havoc in the world of humans. They said the Gremlins were already a part of popular culture and were often seen as toys in shops. They said the ad paid homage to these fondly-regarded anti-heroes.

Swarm said the ad focussed entirely on the mischievous and humorous aspects of the Gremlins rather than on anything more threatening. They said the creatures' actions in the ad did not have the intention of harming Peter Jones himself and he was not depicted as scared or nervous at any point. They said the Gremlins were simply shown capriciously disrupting different aspects of Peter's working environment for their own amusement, and his reaction was one of frustration not fear. They said the Gremlins were shown chewing through computer cables and unplugging them, hiding in a waste paper basket, throwing CDs around the room, making the electrics spark, photocopying their behinds, blowing their noses on computer paper, swinging from a ceiling fan, tap dancing on a keyboard and pulling cables out of a server.  Swarm said that, whilst the music had a slightly suspenseful opening to set the scene, it quickly built up to a tempo which reflected the overall comic tone of the ad. They said they supported the ex-kids restriction given to the ad by Clearcast.

BT believed it was clear from their behaviour that the Gremlins were shown in a light-hearted manner. They said that in the wider social and broadcast context of CGI films and computer games aimed at children today they believed the ad was fairly tame. They also said they had received overwhelmingly positive feedback from parents in their organisation and many requests for Gremlins toys on behalf of their children.

Clearcast said they had discussed the ad at length and had decided that an ex-kids restriction was sufficient. They said they had acknowledged that the image of the Gremlins might scare very young children, and that is why the restriction had been applied. However, they said that the Gremlins behaved in a mischievous rather than a menacing way in the ad and were shown to be comical rather than terrifying, therefore they believed the restriction applied was sufficient.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA acknowledged that the pointy teeth, green-grey skin, large ears and goblinesque features of the Gremlins might scare very young children. However, we noted that the Gremlins in the ad were shown delighting in the creation of chaos in Peter Jones' office rather than revelling in menacing him in any way. We considered that, overall, the Gremlins' antics were likely to be seen as comedic rather than threatening.

Whilst we acknowledged some parents were concerned their young children had been scared by the Gremlins, we noted Clearcast had applied an ex-kids restriction to the ad, which meant it could not be shown in or around programmes made specifically for, or targeted at, children. Given the overall light-hearted tone of the ad (which we considered was likely to be apparent to all but the very young) we concluded that the timing restriction was sufficient.

We investigated the ad under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 7.4.1 (Mental harm) 7.4.6 (Distress) 7.4.7 (Scheduling) and CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Scheduling Code rule   4.3.7 (Treatments unsuitable for children) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action required.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)