Ogilvy & Mather’s ’Full Mountie’ ad for Lucozade has drawn
criticism from more than 115 TV viewers for being crude and offensive to
overweight women, according to the latest Television Advertising
Complaints report from The Independent Television Commission.
The ad features Sandra and Tracey, based on the Fat Slags from Viz,
watching a male strip show called the Full Mountie. Bottles of
Low-Calorie Lucozade are strategically placed to spare the strippers’
blushes, and one stripper explains the drink ’helps me stay firm where
it counts’.
Viewers said the ad contained an unacceptable level of sexual innuendo
for pre-watershed viewing, while some felt the ad should not have been
allowed on air at all. A number of complainants felt the commercial was
offensive to overweight women, and one male viewer complained that the
male strippers were offensive to men.
However, the ITC decided that, while the ad might not be to everyone’s
taste, the level of innuendo and nudity did not warrant greater
restrictions on timing.
Another of O&M’s ads for Lucozade did not escape censure, however, after
22 viewers complained that the ad contained the word ’bollocks’. The ad
shows a group of mods on scooters and, as a train passes, one character
is heard saying ’bollocks’.
The ITC said recent research showed 70 per cent of the population regard
this word as one of the stronger swear words, and so the commission
upheld the complaints and asked for the word to be removed.
Another O&M ad, this time for Impulse, also caused offence. The ITC
received complaints from 29 viewers, about the depiction of
homosexuality in the ad, which shows two men - obviously lovers -
walking arm-in-arm. Others felt the ad should be subjected to stricter
time restrictions.
However, the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre had cleared the ad
for showing after 7.30pm and the ITC felt was this was sufficient
regulation.
Euro RSCG Wnek Gosper’s ad for the Peugeot 106, showing two women lost
in the jungle, was felt by some viewers to show racist and outdated
images of black people, but the ITC did not believe the ad was seriously
objectionable.
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