Jemella Ltd PO Box 397 Keighley Bradford West Yorkshire BD20 0WX Number of complaints: 23

Date: 12 March 2008 Media: Television Sector: Health and beauty Agency: TBWA

Ad
Three TV ads for the GHD hair styler.

a. The first ad showed a woman wearing lingerie, sitting on the edge of a bed with beads clasped in her hands. The woman looked upwards and her thoughts could be heard in Italian; on-screen text stated "May my new curls make her feel choked with jealousy". Large on-screen text stated "ghd IV thy Will Be Done", the letter 't' appeared as a cross. On-screen text then stated "ghd. A new religion for hair".

b. The second ad showed a woman lying on a bed with bright light shining through a skylight. She looked upwards towards the skylight and her thoughts could be heard in Swedish; on-screen text stated "May my flirty flicks puncture the heart of every man I see". Large on-screen text stated "ghd IV thy Will Be Done", the letter 't' appeared as a cross. On-screen text then stated "ghd. A new religion for hair".

c. The third ad showed five different scenes of women in their bedrooms, each woman looked upwards while their thoughts were heard; each woman's thoughts were in a different language. Two of the scenes were the same as those in ads (a) and (b) but with the women having different thoughts. Another one of the scenes showed a woman carrying a votive candle through to her bedroom before looking upwards. The last woman's thoughts were "Make him dump her tonight and come home with me" in English. Large on-screen text stated "ghd IV thy Will Be Done", the letter 't' appeared as a cross. On-screen text then stated "ghd. A new religion for hair".

Issue
The Archdeacon of Liverpool and 22 members of the public objected that the ads, particularly the use of the phrase "thy will be done" from the Lord's Prayer and the depiction of the letter 't' as a cross in 'thy', were offensive to the Christian faith.

BCAP TV Advertising Code:

6.1

Response
Jemella said they had not intended to cause offence. They asserted that the ads were intended to show a deeply held wish by a girl and her expression of a response to that wish. They maintained that the use of the word "thy" was to add drama and weight to the intensity of the girl's wishes.

Jemella argued that the phrase "thy will be done" was only a small part of the Lord's Prayer and was in relatively common usage. They maintained that phrases such as "turning the other cheek", "give us today our daily bread" and "lead me not into temptation" were also biblical phrases that were in common usage and had been used in previous advertising. They believed, although a small number of Christians might be offended by the phrase, the ad was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence.

Jemella pointed out that a previous ASA adjudication had ruled that the claim 'thou shalt convert' in a ghd ad was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence.  They argued that 'thou shalt convert' was similar in tone to 'thy will be done'.  They also pointed out that they had used the strapline 'a new religion for hair' for ghd for the past seven years across all mediums.

Jemella asserted that they had not intended to cause offence by depicting the letter 't' as a cross. They said the typographic style was in keeping with the style of the current brand campaign and they believed it was unlikely to be offensive to Christianity. They said the television campaign had now finished and that they had slightly amended the image of the letter 't' for future ads.

Clearcast said they had approved ghd ads with a religious emphasis and the strapline "a new religion for hair" for the past seven years. They said, when they received the script for the ads, they took into account the heritage of the brand and the public perception of ghd through their marketing across all mediums. They noted the use of iconography had been present in previous ads in which halos, rings and religious looking books had all featured. They also pointed out that the ASA had previously not upheld complaints about Jemella's use of the phrase "thou shalt convert". They said "thou shalt not" had been a running theme in ghd ads and several previous ads had adopted the idea of adhering to ghd's rules or of invoking help with making a wish come true.

Clearcast believed the ads did not seek to mock any particular religion and contained language that had been used by ghd for the past seven years across all advertising mediums. They believed the depiction of the letter 't' was not intended to cause offence and appeared as a creative device in the same ambiguous vain as other symbolism used throughout ghd's ads. They said the bottom of the 't' became pointed to emphasise a difference to both the letter 't' and a cross.

Clearcast said they had taken a lot of factors into consideration before clearing the ads; they had considered the precedent, heritage, tone, previous investigations and possible offence at script stage and when viewing the finished ads. They said, although 23 people had objected to the ads, they were satisfied they had prevented anything being broadcast that would cause widespread offence.

Assessment
Upheld
The ASA acknowledged that ghd had been using the phrase "a new religion for hair" in their marketing for the past seven years. We considered that ghd's use of the word "religion" in that context did not mock faith or belief, but was intended to refer in the wider sense to an interest or hobby followed with devotion.

We noted, however, that the women in the ads appeared to be in prayer: their hands were clasped and they were looking upwards towards the sky. One was holding a votive candle and another was holding a set of beads that resembled rosary beads. We also noted the images of the women in their bedrooms, some of them in their underwear and others on their beds, were presented in a way that could be seen to be erotic.

We considered that the style of the letter t in the word "thy" closely resembled the Cross of Jesus. We considered that the phrase "thy will be done" from the Lords Prayer and the image of the letter t in the style of the Cross, were likely to have particular significance to members of the Christian faith.  

We concluded that the eroticised images of the women apparently in prayer, in conjunction with religious symbols such as the votive candle and the rosary beads, the use of the phrase "thy will be done" from the Lords Prayer and the image of the letter t as the Cross of Jesus, were likely to cause serious offence, particularly to Christians.

The ads breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rule 6.1 (Offence).

Action
The ads must not be shown again in their current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)