ASA Adjudication on Livelines UK Ltd

Ad

An ad in the Independent, for an adult telephone chat service, showed a picture of a young woman in a vest top. Text said "EASY TEENS WILLING TO PLEASE! XXX LIVE FILTH. 0909 xxxxxx TEXT 'EASY' TO 69xxx".

Issue

A complainant challenged whether the ad:

1.  was offensive and unsuitable for publication in a newspaper where it could be viewed by children;

2.  was irresponsible and harmful because it sexualised teenagers.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Livelines UK Ltd (Livelines) said they did not feel that the ad could lead to child abuse and stated that the featured girl was over 18 years of age.  They said that the ad appeared within context of other ads for adult chat services involving references to 'teens' and that The Independent had accepted it without any question.

The Independent explained that the ad appeared in the context of a page of adult advertisements that appeared in the same section of the newspaper on a weekly basis. They said that the reference to teens did not make the ad indecent, as many millions of teens were over the age of consent and were entitled to view adult material. They said the girl in the ad did not look younger than those depicted in the surrounding ads and it was clear that there was no intention to encourage underage sexual activity.

Assessment

1. Not upheld

The ASA considered that the placement of the ad in the "classified" section in the middle of a magazine supplement of a national newspaper and its overall presentation was such that it was unlikely to attract the attention, or interest, of children.  Although we acknowledged that some people would find the nature of the services distasteful, we concluded that the ad was unlikely to cause offence to readers of the classified section of The Independent or harm children.

On this point, we investigated the ad under CAP Code clauses 2.2 (Social responsibility), 5.1 and 5.2 (Decency) but did not find it in breach.

2. Upheld

We noted the ad was headlined "EASY TEENS WILLING TO PLEASE XXX LIVE FILTH" and considered that readers were likely to infer that they were being invited to engage in sexual conversations with teenagers, who could be young women under the age of 18 years.  We concluded, therefore, that the ad was socially irresponsible, because it sexualised teenagers and implied the service operators might be young women who were not yet adults.  

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clause 2.2 (Social responsibility).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form.  We advised Livelines to seek a view from the CAP Copy Advice team before advertising again.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)