ADVERTISING STANDARDS AUTHORITY BELIEVES ADVERT ON POISONING MEN IS ACCEPTABLE

Last month, this site highlighted the Old Jamaican ginger beer advert that felt poisoning a husband was acceptable.

Steve who is a regular on the blog has now had a response after he complained (thanks Steve for sending). The response shows a complete disdain for male victims of doemstic abuse and violence against men in general. The bottom line is if the ASA recieved a complaint about a man posioning his wife - they would find against it and have it banned - but because it is men - well, they don't count.

Posted by Skimmington

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Thank you again for contacting the ASA.  I’m sorry to learn that this ad has caused
you concern.

Our Code says that ads should contain nothing that is likely to cause serious or widespread offence. 
The ASA bases its judgments on the content of the ad and the medium, audience, product type and prevailing standards in society.

Complaints about offence often require difficult judgements but we don’t intervene where advertising is simply criticised for being in poor taste.  Apart from freedom of speech considerations, even well-intentioned and thoughtful people will have different and sometimes contradictory opinions about what constitutes ‘bad taste’ or should be prohibited.  We can only act if the ad, in our judgement, offends against widely accepted moral, social or cultural standards.

We recently referred your complaint about this ad to the ASA Council, the final arbiter concerning decisions relating to breaches of the UK Codes of Advertising.  An ad might be in breach of the Codes by, for example, being likely to cause serious or widespread offence, being materially misleading or risking or causing significant harm.  The Council considered the ad and your complaint but concluded that there were no grounds for further action on this occasion.

While the Council understood that the theme of the ad might have been distasteful to some viewers, it did not consider it likely to be interpreted as condoning or making light of domestic violence or that it was likely to cause serious or widespread offence or undue distress.

I realise this may disappoint you, however we’ve passed on your complaint to the advertiser (without revealing your identity), so they’re aware of the concerns that have been raised.

Thank you again for contacting us with your concerns.  Our website, www.asa.org.uk, contains information about the ASA and the work we do.

 Kind regards,

 David Humber

 Complaints Executive

Direct line 020 7492 2248

 Advertising Standards Authority

Mid City Place, 71 High Holborn

London WC1V 6QT

Telephone 020 7492 2222

www.asa.org.uk

 

Follow us on twitter: @ASA_UK

Comments

[Bob]

The usual misandry. If they base their decisions on "prevailing standards in society" and "widely accepted moral, social or cultural standards", these all being fashioned themselves by the prolonged exposure to televised propaganda and advertising, then of course over time images of men being beaten and abused will seem completely acceptable to 'society'.

Just as an aside, society used to find it acceptable to publicly burn women at the stake, imagine if that was in an advert!
The ASA would be falling over themselves in their haste to have it taken off air.

It would be interesting to know, if they deemed it acceptable to the "prevailing standards in society" that women be actually grossly abused in this way, would they find such an advert ok for televising? If say, it was currently acceptable to humiliate members of the jewish faith for example, would they deem anti semitic propaganda was ok for broadcast?

It is very well known that repeated images even of an intitially horrific nature will, over repreated viewing become far less 'offensive' and eventually just be accepted as part of the wallpaper.

Basically if they decide whether or not an ad is acceptable on the basis off whether the public is bothered by it then they they should be scrapped as an organisation. They have a gall to talk about morals when they are essentially saying that under the right circumstances anything is acceptable, so long as the public aren't bothered. I see no morals there.

They should have basal values that cannot be erroded by propaganda and 'public opinion', killing should be one of these but obviously they disagree.

You have had as much luck as I with the ASA, they're infiltrated by feminist misandrists who are a poison themselves in what shuold be an organisation to protect the public, instead they protect the propagandists so now we are in a deluge of media manipulation by people peddling their underlying agendas.

I remember seeing a program about the USSR, the public there were (more or less) immune to constant propaganda because they knew TV and advertising were all just stage-managed pantomime. Journalists said that they were shocked when they came to the west and saw no variation of opinion in the media, no true debate. They said it was because we didn't see it we were all being manipulated. Well most of us anyway.

[John Kimble]

We do now seem to have proved the ASA to be misandrist. Previous adverts such as the "even a man can do it" were at least open to a tiny but of interpretation in terms of humour/offensiveness, whereas here we have death of men by domestic violence being mocked and the breaches of their rules couldn't be any more blatant. If they're not going to deal with this then they're beyond hope.

Having examined other ASA rulings it would appear pressure is often needed to get action. Obviously no feminists groups are likely to have complained about such a terrible endorsement of domestic violence, but I imagine a well argued letter from experts on the issue such as the Mankind Initiative or Erin Pizzey might force them to reopen this case.

Anyway many thanks to everyone who tried to help on this issue, the video on Youtube is at least open to comments so let the advertiser know exactly what you think about their contempt for male vicitms of domestic violence.

[Truth]

geeez... women are so sexist they are pathetic.

[Bob]

The ASA seem to think that if the gutter press think its ok and hence the indoctrinated masses think its ok, then its ok.

Stalin would be drooling at such mind control.

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[Douglas Cameron]

I'm surprised there's not outrage at the Always Ultra advert that I have seen recently on TV. It finishes with a man being pulled into a revolving door with a group of women who clearly want to do with him as they please. He looks distinctly uncomfortable and uneasy to be in that situation. If roles were reversed it would be deemed unacceptable

[Kiran]

Though the ad was not banned but they got the message that we won't take it lying down and if they get many such complaints they will have to take notice. I also raise objections on such biased ads and articles regularly. This is how we can curb the false propaganda - http://www.lifenstory.com/frmViewStory.aspx?C1=183