It’s still okay to get pork on your fork, rules ASB

Tim Burrowes

February 27, 2012 7:22

It’s still okay to use innuendo around the word pork, the Advertising Standards Board has ruled after complaints about the latest in the Pork On Your Fork campaign.

The ruling comes a year after the The Brand Shop (now Shift) developed campaign to encourage people to eat pork was cleared over the innuendo-laden message “So I porked him”.

The latest complaints came around an ad featuring gossip around a new neighbour porking the mailman.

The complainant stated: “As the ad shows ‘porking’ is a pun on casual sex. This is obvious from the reactions of woman one. While in bad taste it runs when my children are still up. My 11 year old is now asking what the joke is. I really don’t know what to say to him. Life would be easier if I wasn’t confronted with an apparent statement that someone is bedding others on a regular basis. Obviously I don’t buy pork anymore.”

However, Australian Pork Ltd argued: “To generate interest and entertain viewers, Get Some Pork on Your Fork – Postman brings to life a situation commonly encountered in daily existence. That is, when innocent misinterpretation can lead to awkward, but humorous scenarios. To ensure the misinterpretation is delivered in a respectful, appropriate manner, APL worked closely with Shift (creative agency) throughout the development process to ensure both visual and audio cues were tasteful and non-suggestive.”

The ASB ruled: “the advertisement is mildly sexually suggestive with references to “porking” the postman however the Board considered that the sexual connotation is mild and is unlikely to be understood by children.

Tim Burrowes

Tim Burrowes is the publisher of Mumbrella and Unmade. He co-founded Mumbrella in 2008 and sister title Unmade in 2021. He's worked in the UK, Middle East, Asia & Australia and has specialised in writing about the communications world for the last 25 years. He wrote the book Media Unmade, published in 2021, and became the presenter of MediaLand on ABC Radio National in 2025.

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3 COMMENTS

Mike Hunt 27 Feb 12

Oh no! We actually have to educate our children about the world around them? How can anyone reasonably expect parents to do that!?

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AdGrad 27 Feb 12

With the way society is working these days, I’m surprised the 11 year old did not come up with this comment. Can we get more precious about the words and mannerisms we use? It’s advertisements like this that allow us to remember, and take attention to. So to the creative director – great job. Who are we hurting with innuendo?

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phil McKrevis 28 Feb 12

Whats for dinner honey?

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