ASA Adjudication on SSL International plc

Ad

A TV ad for durex featured a montage of silent clips of women who appeared to express sexual ecstasy set to an excerpt from Mozart's "Magic Flute". A female voice-over stated "Feel like never before. New durex play O. Pleasure enhancing gel for women. durex play, all you need". The ad closed with a pack shot of the product followed by the product logo and on-screen text, which listed the product stockists and included the phrase "all you need".

The ad was cleared by Clearcast with a post 11 pm timing restriction.

Issue

A viewer, who saw the ad at 10.05 pm on Channel 4, challenged whether it was offensive and overly graphic to be broadcast.

BCAP TV Code

BCAP TV Scheduling Code

Response

McCann Erickson (ME), the agency acting on behalf of SSL International Ltd, said they had not intended to cause any offence.  They explained that the product was an orgasm-enhancing gel for women and they realised, therefore, that there might be sensitivities surrounding how it could be advertised.  They pointed out that the final ad contained no sexual scenes, with nudity limited to shots of male torsos, which they considered to be acceptable.  They believed the ad's overall tone and visual style conformed to accepted norms and current standards of decency.

ME explained that, given the time the ad was broadcast, it was unlikely to be seen by children aged 12 years or under.  They said they had negotiated with Channel 4 to ensure that the ad did not seriously conflict with the style and content of the programming in which it appeared and, given the more adult oriented content for programmes that appeared after 10pm on Channel 4, the Play O gel ad would be extremely unlikely to cause offence to a viewing audience at that time.  

Clearcast believed the sexual content and level of innuendo was in line with other ads for similar products, which had been approved for broadcast with a post 11 pm restriction.

Channel 4 explained that, from time to time, and in appropriate programming, they chose to broadcast ads earlier than the Clearcast guidance and this ad was scheduled to appear at 10:05 pm between the films Rat Race and Venus.  They said it was a conscious scheduling decision based on the nature of the content of the film Venus and the likely viewing profile of the programme and the ad.  They believed the ad's content was not overly graphic or offensive.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA understood that the viewer noticed the ad shortly after 10 pm but was of the opinion that it was unsuitable for broadcast at any time.  We recognised the viewer's concern, and appreciated that advertisers and broadcasters needed to be aware of the sensitive nature of ads for this type of product.  We noted ME had explained that they felt the ad was unlikely to offend or be inappropriate for those aged over 12 years and we agreed.  We considered that this ad was not overly graphic, contained no explicit material and was unlikely to cause offence, provided it was scheduled appropriately.  

We understood that the post 11 pm scheduling restriction applied by Clearcast would have helped to avoid exposure to viewers under the age of 12 years.  We noted, however, that Channel 4 had broadcast the ad shortly after 10 pm.  We checked the audience index figures for the films broadcast before and after the break in which the ad featured and for the break itself, noted that they did not attract a significant proportion of younger viewers, and concluded that neither film had demonstrated particular appeal to younger children.

Although the ad was broadcast by Channel 4 earlier than Clearcast's scheduling advice, in consideration of the child audience index figures for the break and surrounding programming, we considered that it had been scheduled appropriately and was unlikely to cause offence to viewers.

We investigated the ad under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rule 6.1 (Offence) and 7.4.7 (Use of scheduling restrictions) and Rules on the Scheduling of Television Advertisements rule 4.1.1 (Particular separation of advertisements and programmes) and 4.2.3 (Treatments unsuitable for children) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action required.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)