Comments on: Mental health jokes targeted by ad standards watchdog

By: C. Holland

C. Holland — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 06:39:49 +0000

Rivers were quite belligerent about their “Bipolar” reversible vest ad with jabs about *mood changes* and *bipolar disorder* and *getting hundreds of emails* you can find the full case file that was upheld from my complaint on the Ad standards website BTW. Derryn Hinch at 3AW first tried to embarras them out of it. No go. Then I and other Stigma watchers reported them to Sane Australia @ sane.org.au and they found themselves in the stigma watch hall of fame for June. Did that get a response? Noway nohow. Finally when the Ad standards Board upheld the breach they replied to sane australia with an apology.

http://www.sane.org/stigmawatc.....lness.html
Now I have sense of humour but there are limits

By: Ben

Ben — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:46:39 +0000

weird – i just saw the Youi ad unchanged on TV during the EJ Whitten game.

By: Craig

Craig — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:06:47 +0000

Yeah, I never got the connection between OCD and the product in the YOUI ad… very weird, and just weak. Poor old Lance – stuck doing lame-ass ads for insurance and banking (and pulling beers down at the Old Fitzroy in Woolloomooloo last time I saw him).

By: Lance from Neighbours

Lance from Neighbours — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:55:36 +0000

jack – it was pretty obviously implied. even i worked it out.

By: Jack

Jack — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:05:22 +0000

Lance…exactly, there was never a mention of OCD in the ad…you’re right and you don’t even know it….

By: Karalee_

Karalee_ — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:23:12 +0000

Great decision and hopefully this sets the bar for advertisers who seem to think that this type of humour cuts through to their target audiences. The reality? Mental health problems are increasingly becoming common with the incidence of depression, anxiety etc and poking fun at what are often serious illnesses will only serve to polarize their brand.

By: Wendy Moore

Wendy Moore — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:52:10 +0000

Thankyou ASB for bringing these companies into line. I am sure they meant no harm but until you have been exposed to mental ilness you have no idea the ramifications of making fun of such illness.

I have a family memeber who suffers from mental illness and trust me there is nothing funny from either their perspective or the families perspective who have to help them over and over and over. Society needs to accept that mental health is about ilness just as much as any other condition and advertisers need to help not hinder the situation.

These ads were making fun of many people’s nightmare!!!

By: Lance from Neighbours

Lance from Neighbours — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:03:54 +0000

The thing was, the OCD reference really made no sense.

Plus, Lance never had OCD!!

Plus the car wasn’t even a car!

By: re: turn on

re: turn on — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:59:54 +0000

The ASB is doing these advertisers a favour, rarely does humour predicated on mental health actually entertain, it just makes the advertisers look desperate. When bad Rob Schneider flicks and z-grade US sitcoms resort to OCD jokes, you know that cow has been milked dry.