Background
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Not Upheld.
Ad description
Two posters promoting the film "Total Recall":
a. A poster, seen on an outdoor billboard, featured two women dressed in bikinis and standing on a yacht. One woman was looking away from the camera with her arms above her head, the other was looking at the camera. Text at the top of the ad stated: "TELL US YOUR FANTASY. WE'LL MAKE IT REAL*". Text at the bottom of the ad stated: "REKALL WelcomeToRekall.co.uk Follow @WelcomeToReKall *Side effects may include sleeplessness, headaches, memory loss, paranoia, delusions, schizophrenia, and possible death".
b. A similar poster appeared in a tube carriage. The ad featured a cropped version of the same image of the two women with the heading "TELL US YOUR DREAM. WE'LL MAKE IT REAL*". The same supplementary text as the billboard ad appeared at the bottom of the ad.
Issue
1. The complainants challenged whether the ads were offensive, because they were sexist to women and portrayed them as merely sex objects; and
2. One of the complainants also challenged whether ad (b) was irresponsible because it was unsuitable for display in an untargeted medium where it could be seen by children.
Response
Sony Pictures Releasing UK (Sony) explained that the ads were part of a "tease campaign" for the film Total Recall. They stated that the ads appeared for a period of two weeks prior to the main advertising campaign for the film. They explained that within the film, "REKALL" was a company that allowed individuals to purchase fantasy life experiences which could be implanted as artificial memories. They stated that they had chosen to use the image because it showed an aspirational lifestyle which would appeal to their target audience of 15- to 35-year-old males. They also highlighted that the ads directed individuals to visit a website where further film content could be viewed.
J C Decaux stated that they had not received any complaints about ad (a) and had not placed any restrictions on where it could appear.
CBS Outdoor said they had sought Copy Advice from CAP before distributing ad (b). As a result, they amended the ad to state "Tell us your dream" rather than "Tell us your fantasy".
Assessment
1. Not upheld
The ASA considered that most viewers would not be aware that the ads referenced the film Total Recall and would not understand what "REKALL" was. We noted however that in both ads the Sony Pictures and Columbia Pictures logos appeared, and although we considered that individuals might not recognise those logos, we acknowledged that the text "Side effects may include sleeplessness, headaches, memory loss, paranoia, delusions, schizophrenia, and possible death" meant that most consumers would understand that the content was fictitious.
We understood that the same image of the women was used in both ads, but that in the ad which appeared in a tube carriage, the image was cropped so the women's legs were not shown in full. We noted that, although in both ads the women's poses accentuated their hips and their faces showed seductive expressions, we nevertheless considered that the image was only mildly sexual and the text "Tell us your fantasy/dream. We'll make it real" would be understood to refer to living a fantasy lifestyle of someone rich, attractive and with a yacht and therefore did not present the women as sexual objects.
Because we did not consider that the women in the ads were portrayed as sex objects, we concluded that the ads were unlikely to cause widespread offence as a result, even though they were in an untargeted medium.
On that point, we investigated the ads under CAP Code (Edition 12) rule
4.1
4.1
Marketing communications must not contain anything that is likely to cause serious or widespread offence. Particular care must be taken to avoid causing offence on the grounds of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age. Compliance will be judged on the context, medium, audience, product and prevailing standards.
Marketing communications may be distasteful without necessarily breaching this rule. Marketers are urged to consider public sensitivities before using potentially offensive material.
The fact that a product is offensive to some people is not grounds for finding a marketing communication in breach of the Code.
(Harm and offence), but did find them in breach.
2. Not upheld
We noted the complainant's concerns that ad (b), displayed in a tube carriage, could be seen by children. We considered that children would not understand the reference to "REKALL" and might not be aware that the ad was promoting a film. We noted that CBS had sought Copy Advice from CAP prior to circulating the ad, and, as a result, had amended it to state "Tell us your dream" rather than "Tell us your fantasy" because that was judged to be less sexually suggestive.
We considered that the phrase "Tell us your dream. We'll make it real", when read in conjunction with the image of the two women, would be understood to refer to living a fantasy lifestyle of someone rich with a yacht rather than that they were sexually available. Because we considered the ad was only mildly sexual in nature we considered that it was not unsuitable to appear in an untargeted medium likely to be seen by children, and concluded that it was not irresponsible.
On that point, we investigated ad (b) under CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.3 1.3 Marketing communications must be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society. (Responsible advertising), but did not find it in breach.
Action
No further action necessary.
