The Most Complained About Ad for 2015
New Zealand’s most complained about advertisement for 2015 was an online advertising campaign by I Love Ugly to promote its range of men’s jewellery. There were a total of 26 complaints made to the Advertising Standards Authority about this advertisement.
Complainants said the imagery of a man wearing I Love Ugly rings, with his hands on different parts of a woman’s naked torso, including her breasts and crotch was exploitative of, and degrading to, women.
The original complainant stated:
“I object to the use of a naked women being touched in a sexual way in order to sell men’s jewellery products. This contravenes point #5 of the Code for People in Advertising. Not only is the sexual appeal of a woman being used to sell a product which is unrelated to sex, but the relationship depicted is exploitative and degrading. The woman remains naked throughout the campaign, while the man is fully clothed. The man is clearly in control, the woman subservient, always passive, never active.
I strongly believe that this imagery serves to reinforce damaging attitudes towards women, promoting the view of women’s bodies as passive objects. I’d like to see this imagery removed from I Love Ugly’s website and other marketing or advertising collateral.”
The Advertiser responded to the complaint by stating:
“We take great pride in the standard of advertising we deliver, and have established brand guidelines and advertising sign-off processes which are designed to assist compliance with the Advertising Codes of Practice. In these circumstances, our internal policies were adhered to and the appropriate sign-off received. As an organisation, we constantly strive to evolve and challenge our audience, while staying true to our established brand and tenacious worldwide followers. However, causing offence to our audience is counter-productive and does not fit with the brand message we are trying to deliver.
We believe the series of images took into account the prospective consumers of the I Love Ugly clothing range and wish to express that these were not intended to degrade, or objectify women in any way.
Nevertheless, we have reflected on the concerns of the complainants and decided to rectify the issue by removing the series of images to which the complaints relate from all I Love Ugly marketing channels.”
The Advertiser also said they would undertake a review of their procedures and policies to ensure future compliance with the Advertising Codes of Practice.
The Advertiser removed the images involved in the campaign and apologised to Complainants. In light of the self-regulatory action taken by the Advertiser, the complaints were settled. The full Advertising Standards Authority Decision can be viewed here.
