The ad, created by Argentine agency Vegaolmosponce, part of Lowe Worldwide, features a couple reminiscing about the early stages of their relationship in various situations, including dancing in a nightclub, lying on the beach, and playing basketball, all of which are almost ruined by the man's excessive sweat problem. He is shown in several "flashbacks" showering bystanders in sweat, until someone comes daringly to the rescue with Lynx Dry anti-perspirant.
The ad, directed by Lionel Goldstein, was described by complainants as "offensive", "insensitive" and "made fun of sufferers of hyperhidrosis" -- a condition that causes excessive sweating.
Lynx owner Unilever said that to avoid people taking the ad seriously, it had exaggerated the sweating to such an extent that it was clearly not real.
The BACC agreed, and said the man's sweating was too "unrealistic and exaggerated to be linked to anyone with a real perspiration problem".
The Advertising Standards Authority said: "The images of sweat spurting from the man's underarms were exaggerated and unrealistic and were unlikely to be taken seriously." However, it did acknowledge that some people might find the ad distasteful.
Separately, a TV ad for Virgin Trains, by Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R, which featured a man on a train being attacked by a group of Native Americans, has also escaped censure, despite 83 complaints that it was "racist and used an outdated cultural stereotype of Native American people"'
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