New Decisions: Anthropomorphic Mushrooms, Bread Billboards and More
The following decisions were published on the ASA website on 10 November 2016:
- Complaint 16/323 Spotlight – Not Upheld
- Complaint 16/340 George Weston Foods Limited – Not Upheld
- Complaint 16/351 Meadow Mushrooms Limited – Not Upheld
- Complaint 16/374 Greenpeace NZ – No Grounds to Proceed
Mushrooms For Everyone
A billboard advertisement for Meadow Mushrooms showed photos of packaged mushrooms alongside the text “Fancy a Curvy Earthy Brunette? There’s a mushroom for everyone.”
The Complainant said they found this advertisement offensive where it said “Fancy a curvy brunette?” as they believe this “degrades all women and places them in the lens of men and portrays them as objects and not humans”.
The Advertiser said they did not believe they had breached any of the Advertising Codes of Practice. They said the campaign was tongue in cheek with the theme that there is a mushroom for everyone. Women as well as men are targeted and an “anthropomorphic advertising approach” was used.
The Complaints Board said the advertisement was light-hearted and focussed on mushrooms and not people. They did not consider the wording in the advertisement portrayed people in a manner which was likely to cause offence or employed sexual appeal in a manner which was exploitative or degrading of people in order to promote the sale of products. The Complaints Board ruled the advertisement was not in breach of the Advertising Code of Ethics or the Code for People in Advertising. Accordingly, the Complaints Board ruled to Not Uphold the complaint.
‘Burgen Virgin’ Poster Not Inappropriate
A bus shelter poster advertisement for Burgen bread showed a woman in her pyjamas, with her duvet wrapped around her, eating Burgen toast. Across the top of the poster was the question “Are you still a Burgen virgin?”
The Complainant, said “I feel this ad is inappropriate and in poor taste to display on a bus stop outside any school… Children are being exposed to sex at too early an age from all areas of society…”. Four other complainants shared similar views.
The Advertiser (George Weston Foods Ltd) said the advertisement was part of a campaign to encourage consumers to try a product they may never have tasted before, hence the reference to Burgen ‘virgin’. The Advertiser said the word ‘virgin’ was not intended to have a literal connection to sexual virginity but referred to someone who had not previously tried something, for example ‘political virgin’.
The Complaints Board noted the concerns of the five Complainants, that the placement of this advertisement near schools and the reference to sex and virginity to sell bread was inappropriate.
The majority of the Complaints Board agreed the advertisement did not use sexual appeal simply to draw attention to an unrelated product and was not offensive. The minority of the Complaints Board disagreed and said the advertisement was not prepared with a due sense of social responsibility and had used sexual appeal via a combination of imagery and wording. However, in accordance with the majority, the Complaints Board ruled to Not Uphold the complaint.
