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ASA Ruling on Koch Media Ltd

Koch Media Ltd

The Bullpens
Manor Court
Herriard
Hampshire
RG25 2PH

Date:

12 March 2014

Media:

Television

Sector:

Leisure

Number of complaints:

4

Agency:

Premier Public Relations Ltd

Complaint Ref:

A13-246021

Background

The ASA received a total of five complaints about this ad, raising two issues. Four complainants saw the ad on TV channels operated by Channel Four Television Company Ltd (Channel 4), and one saw it on a channel operated by UKTV Interactive Ltd. One of the issues raised was whether the ad was appropriately scheduled, an issue for which broadcasters are responsible, and we have therefore published two adjudications about the same ad to address the specific circumstances of its scheduling by both broadcasters. Adjudication reference A13-245979 relates to the scheduling of the ad by UKTV Interactive Ltd.

Summary of Council decision:

Two issues were investigated, of which one was Upheld and one was Not upheld.

Ad

A TV ad, seen on Channel 4 and E4+1 during or between episodes of 'Everybody Loves Raymond' and 'The Big Bang Theory' at approximately 9:40 am, 11 am and 3:30 pm, for the film 'Thanks for Sharing' began with a shot of a city, followed by quick shots of two billboards featuring women in their underwear. A voice-over stated, "Life as a sex addict - it's hard." Further scenes showed a male character being caught filming up his female boss's skirt, and rubbing his groin against a woman's bottom on a subway train. Another male character was shown on dates with a woman, followed by a scene in which she was seen approaching him seductively, wearing lingerie, and saying, "Hey baby, you wanna dance?" The voice-over stated "Thanks for Sharing."

The ad was cleared by Clearcast with an 'ex-kids' restriction.

Issue

The ASA received four complaints:

1. Two complainants challenged whether the ad was offensive, irresponsible and harmful, because it depicted non-consensual sexual acts and a women dressed in a sexually provocative way.

2. All the complainants challenged whether the ad was suitable for broadcast at times when children might be watching.

BCAP Code

Response

1. Koch Media Ltd said that, in line with the scheduling restriction imposed by Clearcast, they only ran the ad in 'ex-kids' advertising spots.

Clearcast said they had considered the ad very carefully, because it was for a film which dealt with very serious subjects, such as addiction, sexual harassment and non-consensual sex acts, and they recognised there was therefore the potential for offence to be caused. They felt, however, that there were a number of reasons why the ad was not offensive, irresponsible or harmful. They said the character who attempted to film up his boss's skirt and harassed a woman on the subway was shown in a negative light. His actions were shown to lead to his dismissal from his job and the woman on the subway reacted violently. Clearcast considered his actions were shown to be in the wrong and he suffered important consequences. As a result they felt the ad did not handle the subject irresponsibly or harmfully.

2. Channel 4 said when setting out restrictions for broadcasting ads, they looked at previous audience indexing data for the same programmes on the same channel, during the same part of the day and on weekdays or weekends as relevant. They aggregated the data for the parent channel and the relevant +1 channel to ensure a larger, more robust sample.

One complainant saw the ad on a weekday at approximately 9:40 am, during ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’, and another complainant saw the ad on a Saturday at approximately 11 am, between episodes of ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ and ‘The Big Bang Theory’. Channel 4 provided spreadsheets of audience data for relevant transmissions of the programmes over the previous six months. They said that for those programmes the average audience figures for children aged 4‒9 years, children aged 10‒15 years, and children overall fell below the threshold at which the programmes would be deemed to have particular appeal to children.

One complainant saw the ad on a Saturday at approximately 3:30 pm, between episodes of ‘The Big Bang Theory’. Channel 4 acknowledged that on the date the complainant saw the ad, the audience figures for children aged 10‒15 years and children overall were above the threshold at which the programme would be deemed to have particular appeal to children. They considered, however, that the historic audience data demonstrated that was unusual. They said ‘The Big Bang Theory’ was transmitted on four weekend days prior to 5 October in timeslots between 2 pm and 5 pm. On all those occasions the audience figures for children aged 4‒9 years and children overall fell below the threshold at which the programme would be deemed to have particular appeal to children. On one occasion the audience figures for children aged 10‒15 years was above that threshold. In the six months prior to the date on which the complainant saw the ad, the average audience figures for children aged 4‒9 years, children aged 10‒15 years and children overall fell below the threshold.

Assessment

1. Not upheld

The ASA acknowledged the ad included scenes of non-consensual sexual behaviour, but noted the incident in which the man filmed up his boss' skirt was described as the reason he was sacked from his job, and when he rubbed himself against a woman on a subway train she turned and punched him in the face. We considered the ad conveyed that the man's actions were unacceptable and that it was right that he was punished for them. We acknowledged the ad also included a scene in which a woman in lingerie approached a man in a sexually provocative way, but we noted there was no explicit nudity, the scene was brief and there was no physical contact between the characters.

We concluded the ad did not condone or encourage harmful discriminatory behaviour or treatment, crime or anti-social behaviour, and that it was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence or harm.

On this point, we investigated the ad under BCAP Code rules 1.2 (Responsible advertising), 4.1, 4.2, 4.8 and 4.9 (Harm and Offence), but did not find it in breach.

2. Upheld

As noted above, whilst we concluded the ad was unlikely to cause serious or widespread harm or offence, we considered its sexual content meant that it was not suitable for children, and we therefore considered the 'ex-kids' restriction imposed by Clearcast was appropriate. We reviewed the audience indexing data provided by Channel 4. We acknowledged the data showed that the programme ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’, shown in morning timeslots, did not have particular appeal to children of any age, and that the programme ‘The Big Bang Theory’, shown in weekend timeslots during the day, did not have particular appeal to children aged 4‒9, or children overall.

We noted, however, that the audience data provided by Channel 4 showed that in the six months leading up to the date on which the ad was viewed by the complainant, children in the 10‒15 age group were consistently significantly over-represented in the audience make-up; 48% of the transmissions of ‘The Big Bang Theory’ on weekends between 11 am and 2 pm exceeded the threshold at which the programme would be deemed to have particular appeal to children in that age group. We understood there was less audience data in relation to transmissions of ‘The Big Bang Theory’ on weekends between 2 pm and 5 pm, because it had only been broadcast in that timeslot on four weekends prior to the date on which the complainant saw the ad. However, we noted that 22% of those transmissions exceeded the threshold at which the programme would be deemed to have particular appeal to children aged 10‒15 years. We acknowledged that Channel 4 had had less data available on which to base their scheduling decisions in relation to that timeslot, but we considered that, given the data showed the programme had particular appeal to children aged 10‒15 on weekends between 11 am and 2 pm, Channel 4 should have taken a cautious approach in its decisions with regard to the scheduling of advertising during the same programme in the 2 pm to 5 pm timeslot.

We considered that, because the ad had been shown during ‘The Big Bang Theory’, which was of particular appeal to children aged 10‒15 in weekend timeslots between 11 am and 5 pm, it had not been scheduled in accordance with the 'ex-kids' scheduling restriction imposed by Clearcast. We concluded the scheduling of the ad therefore breached the Code in that regard.

Notwithstanding the above, we noted that, because it promoted a film carrying a 15-certificate, the ad fell within a specific age-restricted product provision of the BCAP Code which prohibited its being shown in or around programmes commissioned for, principally directed at or likely to appeal particularly to audiences below the age of 16 years. Because the audience data showed that transmissions of ‘The Big Bang Theory’ in timeslots between 11 am and 5 pm on weekends were of particular appeal to children aged 10‒15, we concluded the scheduling requirements arising from the product classification had not been met , and the ad therefore breached the Code in that regard.

On this point, the ad breached BCAP Code rules 5.1 (Children), 32.3 (Scheduling of Television and Radio Advertisements - Under 16s) and 32.5.3 (Other Television Scheduling or Timing Restrictions: Children).

Action

We told Channel 4 to take more care with the scheduling of ads.

How to comply with the rules

For advice and training on the Advertising Codes please visit the CAP website.

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