ASA Adjudication on PZ Cussons (UK) Ltd

Ad

A TV ad, for Original Source shower gel, featured a naked young woman sitting in a side-on pose under a lemon tree. The ad cut to a close-up of the young woman’s face. She said “Ten real lemons help make one zesty bottle of Original Source shower gel.”

Issue

Viewers objected that the ad was offensive and inappropriate, because the model seemed to be under 16 years of age and was shown in a sexually provocative way.

BCAP TV Code

Response

PZ Cussons (UK) (Cussons) said the ad was intended to represent the naturalness of their product and gave their assurance that the model in the ad was an adult at the time of casting. They maintained that the question of how old she looked was entirely subjective. Cussons said, in order to emphasise the theme of naturalness, they had chosen a model with naturally blonde loose, long hair who was "outdoorsy" but cool and had shown her with no make-up; they said the same model, in make-up and fashionable clothes would look much older. Cussons pointed out that the model's demeanour was confident, not vulnerable; she maintained eye contact with the viewer to demonstrate that she was at one with the environment. They asserted that that attitude could hardly be considered that of a child.

Cussons said they had taken care not to cast a more voluptuous model so that the ad did not have sexual overtones. They pointed out that the model's pose adequately concealed her breasts and genitals and that she avoided any movements that could be construed as sexually provocative. They said they had taken account of the Independent Television Commission's (ITC) research into 'Nudity within Advertising', which suggested that it was most suitable for nudity to appear in advertising for bath and shower products. They pointed out that the model made clear in the dialogue that the product advertised was a shower gel. Cussons said they did not seek to offend viewers and the issue raised had taken them by surprise. However, when they started to receive complaints directly, they decided to re-edit the ad so that the model was seen only from the shoulders upwards.

The BACC said they endorsed Cusson's comments and added that the model was, if anything, ethereal and androgynous, a sort of creature of nature like a dryad or a nymph, and came across somehow as asexual rather than sexually suggestive.

Assessment

Complaints upheld

The ASA understood that the model was an adult at the time of casting and noted she appeared naked for only two seconds.  We noted the BACCs argument that the model seemed to be androgynous and asexual but considered that viewers were likely to see the model as a young girl. We considered that the combination of nudity and the stylised shots of the models pose were likely to be considered by viewers to have sexual overtones. Because some viewers were likely to believe that the model was a child, we considered the sexual overtones and nudity in the ad were offensive and inappropriate. We concluded that the ad was likely to cause serious or widespread offence and noted Cussons action to change the ad.

The ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rule 6.1 (Harm and Offence).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its original form.