ASA Adjudication on News Group Newspapers Ltd

Ad

An ad in paid for space on a lorry for The Sun newspaper, stated "Where the bloody hell were you?" against a background of the Union Jack flag. It showed Great Britain's (2008) Olympic gold medal tally of 19 compared to Australia's 14.

Issue

The complainant, who saw the lorry parked on a bridge on the M4, objected that the language used was offensive in a public place where it could be seen by children.

CAP Code

Response

News Group Newspapers Ltd trading as The Sun (The Sun) said they did not consider the slogan "Where the bloody hell were you?" to be offensive, and that it therefore did not need to be restricted from children's viewing. They said the slogan was a reference to a very well known Australian tourist ad. They said the ad was a tongue-in-cheek reference to that ad, and the fact that Great Britain had won more gold medals than Australia in the recent Olympics. They said they considered the word "bloody" to be a generally acceptable mild epithet, and not offensive. They believed their ad as a whole would be understood to be light hearted, tongue in cheek and gently ribbing of Australia's well known sporting success.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted The Sun's ad was a reference to an earlier Australian Tourist Board ad, but also noted complaints about that ad's use of the word "bloody" in outdoor advertising had previously been upheld by the ASA.

We acknowledged that The Sun's ad had been prepared in a light-hearted and tongue-in-cheek manner, following the UK's recent success at the Olympics, but nevertheless considered that the word "bloody" was a swear word, albeit a milder one than some others and concluded that it was socially irresponsible to reproduce it in advertising in an untargeted medium to which children could be exposed.

The ad breached CAP Code clauses 2.2 (Social responsibility) and 47.1 (Children).

Action

We told The Sun not to use the word "bloody" on posters in future.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)