Priests with condoms are okay, but kicking bullies is not, rules ad watchdog
A Vodafone ad breached the code of conduct covering the depiction of violence, Australia’s advertising watchdog has ruled.
The scene where a girl kicks a bully in Clemenger BBDO’s “What are you waiting for” ad for Vodafone was inappropriate, said the Advertising Standards Board. However, the ASB ruled that images in the same ad of a Catholic priest giving out condoms were okay.
The ASB investigated the TVC after complaints about the scenes, plus a post-watershed cut of the ad that showed a supermarket employee giving his boss a rude hand gesture as he resigned.
The ASB ruled that the scene of the priest giving out condoms was acceptable. It said:
“The Board considered that this depiction is intended as a humorous depiction of a matter that is the subject of debate within a particular religion. The Board noted that some members of that religion may find this depiction offensive but considered that others would find it a humorous reflection of that debate. The Board considered that the depiction of the priest handing out condoms does not disparage or vilify the Catholic religion nor does it disparage Catholics.”
The supermarket resignation scene was also okay.
But the ASB said the girl kicking the bully was unacceptable because it breached rules on the depiction of violence. The finding said:
“Although kicking is not seen, the suggestion is that she kicks the older boy. He is shown to be in pain. The Board considered that this is a depiction of violence, even though the actual kicking is not seen. The Board considered that a number of the elements of this scene are inappropriate and inconsistent with education around bullying. The suggestion of ‘payback’ in this manner (kicking the older child) and the depiction of a bully as an overweight large older child is stereotypical and unhelpful to raising awareness and understanding of bullying in Australia.”
After the ruling, Vodafone said it would reedit the advertisement. The ad was launched in May.
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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“The suggestion of ‘payback’ in this manner (kicking the older child) and the depiction of a bully as an overweight large older child is stereotypical and unhelpful to raising awareness and understanding of bullying in Australia.”
Because we all know that bullies tend to be skinny weedy young kids who pick on bigger older kids, right..?
And of course, no-one who was ever bullied EVER dreamt of one day getting even. No, they only wanted to sit down with the bully at a conflict resolution session, chaired by a mediator, and explore why the bully does what he does and share his feelings.
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Seems like a reasonable rationale to me. Many Catholics believe in protected sex anyway, the only folk likely to be offended are those residing in Vatican city.
I assumed the little girl was the bully? Maybe its just my childhood, I was the tubby kid picked on by little girls…
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Genuine question: Can anyone explain to me why advertising needs to be so censored when TV programmes are so gratuitous?
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What if she Kicked him but gave him a condom?
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What if the little girl made the Bully read ASB findings like the one above? Would that be a worse punishment?
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I think the portrayal of a girl kicking the boy was slightly incorrect, everyone knows a blade is really the way to go.
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“What am I waiting for?” …. some common sense from the do-gooders regarding such petty complaints. It’s an ad for mobile phone’s for heaven’s sake!
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