ASA Adjudication on Portland Enterprises CI Ltd

Ad

An ad in X360, a magazine about the Xbox 360 video games machine, for Television X, an adult TV channel. The ad featured a woman in a bikini; text stated "television X SIZZLING NEW SHOWS EVERY NIGHT! ... 12 HOT CHANNELS FOR 1 GREAT PRICE …".

Issue

The complainant, whose 11 year old son bought the magazine, objected that the ad was offensive, irresponsible and unsuitable for publication in a magazine that appealed to children.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Television X asserted that they would never advertise in a medium that was directed towards people under 18 years old. They said they were obliged by law to have in place a number of systems to actively ensure that under 18 year olds could not subscribe to their TV services and, therefore, it would make no sense for them to advertise to people under the age of 18. They said Imagine Publishing (Imagine), which owned X360, had told them X360 was not targeted at under 18 year olds. They believed, even in the event that an under 18 year old saw the ad, it was unlikely to cause any harm, because the image was not as blatant as other widely available images.

Imagine said the profile of the readership for X360 was 18 to 35 year old males. They sent a copy of their media pack, which was sent to potential advertisers. The media pack defined the readers of X360 magazine as ABC1 males who were serious gamers, technologically aware, spent substantial time and money on gaming and read other similar publications, including lad magazines. They asserted that the editorial content of X360 was a mixture of news, in-depth review analysis, extensive previews and developed interviews. They argued that the design and content of the magazine were not targeted at children and X360 was therefore unlikely to appeal to them.

Imagine said they worked closely with distributors and retailers of their products and offered them advice on where they believed their magazines should be placed in stores. They sent a copy of a sheet they produced for stores which defined the target audience of X360. They asserted that X360 was not in the teen or childrens sections of newsagents or retail stores and children were therefore unlikely to purchase it. They said they had received one verbal complaint about the ads that appeared in X360 magazine.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA noted X360 magazine was targeted at 18 to 35 year old men and Imagines media pack informed potential advertisers of the target audience. We also noted Imagine requested X360 was not placed in the teen or childrens sections of retail outlets. We considered that the content of the magazine was adult in tone. We considered that the ad did not contain explicit text or images and was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence to, or be seen as irresponsible by, readers of X360 magazine.

We investigated the ad under CAP Code clauses 2.2 (Responsible advertising), 5.1 (Decency) and 47.2 (Children) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)