Ad description
A TV ad for the 18 classified film 'Filth' featured a number of brief clips from the film including scenes featuring alcohol consumption, partial nudity, sexually suggestive behaviour, vomiting and drug use. It featured a voice-over in a Scottish accent, which stated, "You've got to watch Filth. The Mail on Sunday Showbiz says it's the most exciting and attention grabbing film of the year. FHM reckons McAvoy gives the performance of the year and they gave it five stars. Some bloke at GQ reckons it's magnificent, hilarious and utterly compelling and Gordon Smart at The Sun calls it the greatest thing to come out of Scotland since the deep fried Mars Bar. From the creator of Trainspotting, Filth."
The ad was cleared by Clearcast with a post 7.30 pm restriction.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the ad was suitable for broadcast before 9 pm.
Response
Lions Gate UK Ltd said there were no plans for the future use of the ad.
Clearcast felt that the post 7.30 pm restriction was an appropriate restriction for this ad. They said the scenes of a sexual nature were extremely brief and non-graphic. They noted that there were two scenes where liquid was seen coming out of someone's mouth. They said the first was an unidentifiable liquid and the second may have been vomit, but they said both shots were extremely brief and unlikely to be inappropriate viewing after 7.30pm. With regard to the behaviour depicted, they accepted that it may be considered distasteful, but deemed it acceptable to be shown after 7.30 pm as it was unlikely to be inappropriate for a post 7.30 pm audience.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA acknowledged that the ad had been given a post 7.30 pm restriction, and it was therefore not shown around programmes commissioned for, principally directed at, or likely to appeal particularly to audiences below the age of 16 years. However, we noted that the ad contained clips likely to be seen as portraying drug use, alcohol consumption followed by vomiting, partial nudity and sexually suggestive behaviour.
We noted that one scene portrayed a young woman in lingerie approaching a line of naked men, shown from the neck down, who were holding police helmets over their genitalia. We noted that another scene depicted three people in a room together. One person was fully clothed, facing the camera and looking directly at another person, who was seemingly naked from the waist down with the third person's arm on their leg. We considered that the scenes were overtly sexual and suggestive, but noted that the scenes were brief and there was no explicit sexual content. We also observed that what seemed to be alcohol consumption featured in several brief clips in the ad, and on one occasion, a character drinking from a bottle was shown to vomit immediately afterwards. We noted that at the end of the ad a character was shown blowing a white powder, which also covered his face, from his hand. We considered that this was likely to be seen as a reference to drugs, but again noted the briefness of the scene.
We acknowledged Clearcast's point that the disputed scenes were extremely short, and we considered that if shown in isolation, the individual brief clips would likely have been considered acceptable post 7.30 pm. We did not consider that the scenes would cause harm or distress to children, that is we did not think the scenes would encourage or condone the behaviour shown or frighten children, but we were concerned about their suitability for children. We concluded that, when viewed together as a series of clips, the overall cumulative effect of those scenes portrayed a very negative, anti-social culture, which we considered would be more appropriate to be shown post 9 pm to further reduce the likelihood of children viewing the ad.
The ad breached BCAP Code rule 32.3 32.3 Relevant timing restrictions must be applied to advertisements that, through their content, might harm or distress children of particular ages or that are otherwise unsuitable for them. (Scheduling).
Action
The ad must not be broadcast again in its current form before 9 pm.
