– The Independent Television Commission has suspended the latest television commercial for the soft drink, Orange Tango, following a number of complaints it has received relating to bullying.
The ban comes despite the fact that the ad was vetted and approved by the BACC (Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre).
The ITC said it received around 60 complaints all of them about the bullying aspect of the ad. Some of those it said came from teachers.
A spokeswoman for the ITC, said: "Our concern was that the bullying shown in the ad could result in copy cat bullying. The ad seemed to condone or even encourage bullying. We judged we should act quickly now rather than waiting for reports of copy cat behaviour to come in."
The ad, created by HHCL & Partners, shows a non-Tango drinker, James, whose home is invaded by a host of Tango-drinking golfers who appear as big, fat, ginger-haired bully boys.
The ads heralded a new twist in the drive to get more people to drink Orange Tango. The commercial attempted to tread a fine line between fear and farce before falling foul of the ITC.
'James rather dislikes the untamed aggression of Tango,' the voiceover says. 'Well ... we know where you live.' The golfers proceed to torment him by repeating everything he says through orange plastic megaphones. By the end of the commercial, James caves in and drinks Tango.
"The premise of the commercial is that we've gone long enough saying 'please drink Tango'. If people are stupid enough to drink other drinks then we have to show them the error of their ways," Angela O' Farrell, account director at HHCL, explained.
Andrew Marsden, marketing director at Britvic Soft Drinks, which makes Tango, said: "We are extremely disappointed by this ruling. Tango is a fun brand and people expect our advertising to be entertaining. With its ginger golfers and plastic megaphones, the ad is not meant to be taken seriously."
He added: "The majority of people have enjoyed this commercial, and already over 40,000 people have phoned the Tango Megaphone hotline. If we have upset some people we are sorry. We have been surprised by the bullying claims, but clearly this has raised in people's minds a serious issue and we have been caught in a broader controversy."
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