Ad description
A paid-for ad for the mobile game “Love and Peace” seen on the Vinted app in November 2025.
The cartoon portrayed a woman in ripped clothing with cuts and bruises on her body. She was shown protecting a wardrobe from an angry, red-faced man who was holding a bottle and attempting to open the wardrobe. He then stamped his feet and smashed the bottle over her, as the woman appeared visibly distressed. He then walked to a bed, next to which were several more bottles, before falling asleep.
The woman then opened the wardrobe and picked up a small girl, who was crying and also shown with cuts and bruises on her. She then placed the child in a suitcase and walked to the door with it. As the woman opened the door, she knocked a plant off a table, waking the man. He then followed her outside, where he pushed her down the stairs, and eventually took the suitcase from her.
Issue
The complainant, who believed the ad trivialised and condoned domestic violence, challenged whether it was offensive, harmful and irresponsible.
Response
FlyDogGame t/a Love and Peace did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries.
Vinted Platform Ltd (Vinted) stated that, once reported to them, they promptly took steps to block the ad through Google Ad manager.
Vinted said they had a strict policy for ads served on their platform, to ensure that their users were not exposed to any harmful or inappropriate ads.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA was concerned by FlyDogGame’s lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told them to do so in future.
The CAP Code required marketers to avoid causing serious or widespread offence and to ensure advertising was prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society. It further stated that marketing communications must contain nothing that was likely to condone or encourage violence.
The ad appeared on the Vinted app, an online marketplace, which we considered was likely to have appeal to a broad and general audience. It promoted a mobile game “Love and Peace”. The ad depicted a cartoon scene from a game. It showed a woman with cuts and bruises, in ripped clothing, protecting a wardrobe from an angry man holding a bottle. The man was then shown smashing the bottle over the woman, who appeared visibly distressed. The woman later opened the wardrobe and picked up a small girl who was crying and had cuts and bruises on her face. She placed the child into a suitcase and attempted to leave the home. When the man woke, he followed her outside, pushed her down the stairs, and took the suitcase from her. We considered that viewers would understand that the woman was in a relationship with the male character and that the child was their daughter. We further considered that consumers would understand the ad depicted violence towards the woman, including an assault with a bottle, and that the woman was frightened and attempting to escape.
We also considered that the scene in which the woman shielded the child in the wardrobe implied the man presented a threat to the child. We considered that impression was reinforced by the child’s bruises and visible distress. We further considered that the woman placing the child into the suitcase was likely to be understood by viewers as a desperate protective measure to remove the child from danger.
We considered that the audience of the Vinted app would not expect to see ads featuring domestic violence in that context, but that, in any case, the content would not have been acceptable in any context.
We also considered the presentation of the ad. The ad featured bright colours and a cartoonish animation style which we considered gave the ad a playful and light-hearted tone. We considered that the ad appeared to present portrayals of assault and domestic abuse with the purpose of entertaining viewers and making light of violence.
We considered that the ad, in portraying assault in that way, had the effect of trivialising and condoning violence, including domestic violence, and furthermore, was irresponsible and likely to cause serious and widespread offence, particularly in the context of an ad for a mobile app game.
For those reasons we concluded the ad was irresponsible and likely to cause both serious and widespread offence.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 1.3 (Social responsibility), 4.1 and 4.4 (Harm and offence).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told FlyDogGame t/a Love and Peace to ensure future ads were prepared responsibly, and did not cause serious or widespread offence, including through trivialising and condoning violence, including domestic violence. We referred the matter to CAP's Compliance team.
