Ad description
An in-app ad for Find Differences Journey Games, seen in the YouTube app on 15 April 2023, was titled “I’m sure you won’t find all the differences”. Beneath that were two pictures side by side, in a cartoon style, of a woman sitting on a toilet in a low-cut dress and high heels. In both pictures her underwear was around her knees while her legs were slightly apart, her head was tilted to the side, and one hand was on her knee while the other was unravelling toilet roll.
Issue
The complainant, who believed the ad was overly sexual and objectified women, challenged whether the ad was offensive and irresponsible.
Response
Guru Smart Holding Ltd t/a Find Differences Journey Games apologised for any discomfort or inconvenience caused by the ad. They said they would not run similar ads in the future.
Google UK said that Google Ireland had confirmed the ad was served through Google Ads, which was a self-administered system, and that under its terms and conditions, responsibility lay with the advertiser to ensure their ads complied with relevant laws and regulations, including the CAP Code.
Assessment
Upheld
The ad was for a “spot the difference” type puzzle and depicted a woman sat on a toilet in a low-cut dress with her legs parted and her underwear around her knees.
The ASA considered the woman was presented here in a sexualised manner, and that by portraying her in that way, where her image was intended to be focused on as part of the game, the ad objectified her and included a harmful stereotype by presenting her as a sexual object with the purpose of titillating viewers. We further considered the nature of the image gave it a voyeuristic feel which reinforced that stereotype.
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 4.9 (Harm and offence).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Guru Smart Holding Ltd t/a Find Differences Journey Games to ensure their ads were socially responsible and did not cause serious or widespread offence, including by featuring a harmful gender stereotype by objectifying and sexualising women.
