Devondale glowgirl ad banned by watchdog as ‘misleading’
An ad for preservative-free Devondale Long Life Milk featuring a girl glowing in the dark has been banned by the advertising watchdog because the phrase “preservatives have consequences” “would be considered misleading by reasonable members of the community”.
The ruling from the Advertising Standards Board has led to the withdrawal of the ad and its replacement with a new caption asking “What are you feeding you kids?”
The ad – which launched a month ago – is part of a range of new ads for the dairy range created by DDB Melbourne. It features the girl glowing bight green as she goes about her daily routine.
According to one complaint to the ASB: “We believe this advertisement is misleading to children because it seems to imply that preservatives make you glow green. This would confuse children and is in fact incorrect.”
Another complaint to the ASB stated: “This advertisement specifically implies that consumers should fear additives and preservatives, and goes so far as to show a girl glowing, implying that the preservatives she has consumed have caused it. This is completely ridiculous and is basically fear-mongering.”
Devondale defended the ad, telling the ASB: “The ‘Glowgirl’ TVC in question is part of a broader campaign of seven TV commercials for the Devondale brand. All spots in the TV campaign were intended to be humorous and not to be taken literally. The use of comedy and humour is consistent across all ads. Therefore, the intent of the whole campaign is to provide a light touch and engage the viewers on the basis of humour. In the ‘Glowgirl’ TVC that is noted in the complaint, the character of the girl is used for comedic effect and the clearly over the top treatment to her ‘glow’ is not to be taken seriously.”
The ad watchdog said: “The Board considered that the depiction of a girl glowing green is hyperbole and considered that members of the community would recognise that this special effect is being employed to make an exaggerated point rather than to actually suggest that consuming preservatives will make you glow green. The Board agreed that the depiction of the girl glowing green is humorous and is not a misleading depiction.
But it added: “The Board noted that the text on screen reads, “preservatives have consequences”. The Board considered that a reasonable member of the community would not consider that preservatives will have the consequence of making hair glow green. However the Board expressed some concern over the impression and likely impact of this statement.”
Indicating that not all members of the ASB panel agreed with the verdict, the watchdog said: “The majority of the Board considered that the statement ‘preservatives have consequences’ has a different effect to a mere statement that something is preservative free. The majority of the Board considered that whilst the interpretation of the meaning of the text on its own is subjective and does not suggest what the consequences are or whether they are good or bad, in the Board’s view the context of the statement being used in conjunction with an image of a girl glowing green amounts to an overall suggestion that preservatives are bad for you.”
It ruled:
“The Board considered that the overall effect of the advertisement, through the use of the phrase ‘preservatives have consequences’ in conjunction with the depiction of a girl with glowing green hair, amounts to an overall message which would be considered misleading by reasonable members of the community.”
Devondale has now launched a re-edited version of the ad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN39UjCOnaY
Tim Burrowes
Seriously?
Every bloody easter we’re bombarded with adverts for chocolate easter eggs committing suicide, alone or in mass groups, and people are worried about a glowing girl?
WTF?
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Mmmnnn… they ban this one yet let through TVC’s every day promoting food for kids which is full of preservatives?
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Scaring parents into buying your product shows a lack of creativity
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Milk? I thought she eaten too much Japanese seafood.
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I am particularly taken with the comment “would be considered misleading by reasonable members of the community”.
Fancy singling out “reasonable ” members of the community.
This reminds me of “Right thinking people” and “God fearing people” and “Law abiding people.”
Hang on, doesn’t the tag line say ” zero preservatives” right after mum asks dad if he has noticed anything odd about Katy? Is it not “reasonable’ to suppose that people will assume that preservatives and Katy’s odd verdant glow are somehow related?
I believe that children, not easily conned, have a better functioning imagination than the vast majority of adults,and an awareness of the non essential additives in foodstuffs is a fine thing not a scary one.
“Eat your carrots, they make you able to see in the dark” or “Eat your bread crusts they make your hair curly” and “Don’t go for preservatives, they make you glow green in the dark.” Do you really think that kids believe all this stuff?
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I just wanna know who the mum on the ad is? And what show she was on?
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