ASA Adjudication on Chello Zone Holdings Ltd

Ad

A TV ad, for Zone Reality adult entertainment TV channels, showed a middle-aged man and woman in bed, while a thunder storm raged outside. After hearing a woman's scream, the wife said "Jerry, I think I heard a noise". The man replied "Probably just a cat. Go to sleep, Barbara". After hearing a man and woman groaning, the man switched a light on, as the wife asked "Do you think we should call the police?". Her husband, putting a glass to the wall, said "Wait a minute. What the hell's going on in there?". The camera panned into the neighbour's room where, to the sounds of orgasmic groaning, a pornographic film was briefly shown on a TV set. A series of women dressed in underwear gave way to the idents of TV channels Amateur Babes, Xtreme Babes, 100% Babes and Hustler TV UK, while a female voice-over said "Fancy joining in? We've got a foursome every night and you are invited. Choose your perfect partner for just £5.99. We're up for anything. So come and get it".

Issue

Three viewers, watching Reality TV, believed the ad was inappropriate to be broadcast in the early evening when their children were watching.

BCAP TV Code

BCAP TV Scheduling Code

Response

Zone Reality said their transmission service provider, Arqiva, carried out a system update on Monday 27 October, which it was believed would not affect the service. They said Zone Reality was therefore not informed of the planned work.  However, they explained that the system update deleted all the scheduled advertisements and, while inserting material to replace the deleted ads, Arqivas transmission operator copied the ad from later in the transmission schedule.   Zone Reality said this was contrary to their emergency procedures and, if they had been aware that the update might affect the service, they would have made provision for a possible breakdown.  They said the ad, normally only shown around midnight, was broadcast five times between 19.26 and 20.12.  They accepted that it was unsuitable for the time of day it was broadcast and apologised to the complainants.  They said it was an unintentional action taken during an emergency situation and they immediately reviewed their compliance procedures to ensure Arqiva and their staff were fully aware of the emergency procedure for Zone Reality.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA understood that the ad was broadcast in error during an unexpected and unusual situation, but we were concerned that internal procedures, in place to prevent unsuitable material from being broadcast during such a situation, were not followed.  We welcomed Zone Realitys review of the procedures, which we understood now included steps to prevent random insertion of material and a list of ads suitable for use at any time.  We acknowledged that the error was unintentional but concluded that, because of its adult content, the ad was unsuitable for broadcast in the early evening and breached the Code.

The ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 7.4.1 (Harm and distress) and 7.4.7 (Use of scheduling restrictions) and CAP (Broadcast) Rules on the scheduling of television advertisements rules 4.1.1 (General principles) and 4.2.3 (Treatments unsuitable for children).

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)