The ads were created by New York agency Hanft Raboy & Partners, and feature couples passionately kissing, licking each other, feeding each other sausages and covering themselves in whipped cream.
The first ad shows a couple ardently embracing in a hot tub, from which an elderly rambler emerges, while the couple remain completely oblivious to his presence. A woman dressed as a teacher then says: "Oblivious Completeis -- a common side effect of match.com".
The second ad shows a couple dancing in a lift, oblivious to an elderly disabled onlooker and a person of restricted growth on crutches, who wears a tennis outfit. A third spot features a couple smearing whipped cream over each other, while an onlooker dips a sausage in the cream and feeds it to her partner.
Complainants objected to the overt sexual references, claiming the innuendo in the ads was unsuitable for children, while eight of the complaints came from disabled people, who felt the ads made fun of their disability.
apologised for any offence caused but strongly defended the ads. It said the content was tongue-in-cheek humour rather than explicitly sexual. The dating site claimed that it did not target the ads at children, choosing broadcast times when they were unlikely to be watching TV.
Match.com further argued that its ads reflect the diversity of society by including disabled people, and explained it had put the person of restricted growth in sportswear to demonstrate his agility, having sought approval from the Restricted Growth Association.
The Advertising Standards Authority ruled in favour of Match.com, and recognised that the Broadcasting Advertising Clearance Centre had passed the ads with time restrictions for broadcast, which had not been breached.
The watchdog found no explicit sexual imagery in the ads and decided it would not create widespread offence. On the issue of disability, it ruled that the ads were not stigmatising, but merely following an absurdist theme.