MyPlates ‘upset’ after ad watchdog receives more than 350 complaints against latest campaign
The volume and ferocity of complaints made against TV adverts for personalised number plate firm MyPlates “rocked our socks off”, its chief executive has said, as he admitted he will think twice over the content of future campaigns.
Daryl Head said he was “upset” that the commercials sparked such controversy, with the Australian Standards Bureau receiving more than 350 complaints for the three executions, although some are likely to be duplicates.
Head revealed he has already been informed by the ASB that the complaints have been dismissed, adding: “We haven’t done anything wrong or breached any code of conduct.”
Perhaps MyPlates could produce a series of ads for men to woman-proof their cars. But hang on…we can’t do that because that would be seen as incredibly sexist.
Why is it OK to man-slam in so many ads for products for woman which portray guys as gross, ugly, dumb and stupid. Apparently that’s just funny and perfectly acceptable.
Every time there is even a suggestion of the same or blatant sexism there is the cry of oppressed women. Double standards still reign supreme.
Only thing I would be complaining about is that stiletto number plate design.
They’re pretty funny and made me visit the site.
Wowsers abound and their ferocity underlined their lunacy.
I’d never by the plates but I think the adds were amusing. Knowing my male family and friends, the adds are so true! People need to get over it.
Really!!
Some people should get a life and stop complaining.
I seen the fart one on Sunday night and could not stop laughing, because this is exactly what my husband would do.
Great marketing 🙂
do they genuinely think there’s a personality type who finds close up snot footage humorous or brave? the execution was offensive not so much the concept in my view.
I’d be surprised if any of the complaints were about the second ad. maybe a few from hyper-sensitive freaks.
Goes to show too many people with too much time on their hands sending whinge letters over nothing. These ads were brilliant and clever i thought.
I have to ask who is the audience for this ad, then? Toilet humour generally appeals to males and yet the ad seems to be aimed at females.
And their problem is??????
I guess I’m a bloke but I find them great. But I’d never wipe my boogie on the door panel. Usually on the carpet!!
Gendered comedy is hard to do well and should be avoided unless it’s done well.
Equally, isn’t “DOOFY DAD” a little old fashioned?
I’m not really a fan of the ads. My husband would never do that and plus I’m sure women do it too. I would not get a personalized number plate based on that ad. I think it needs to be a bit more subtle and sophisticated.
Humanity.
The ad where the man picks his nose is bad taste in the extreme. Thank God it’s now been pixelated, but even the new version still turns my stomach.
Yuck. Get it off now.
Tell you what. Redo these ads with women the subject instead of men and title it ‘Man-proof’ your car, and see how many women’s groups complain of you being sexist!
Haters will hate.
Send all the complainants a mirror, because they need to take a good, long, hard look at themselves.
From the first time I saw your rather stupid adds, I deemed them to be, insulting,
demeaning to men, disgusting, inappropriate, stupid in the extreme, designed by some cretin with absolutely no advertising acumen and if you had put women in a similar situation albeit reversed whoever the feral was who put this crap to television would have had his balls handed to him in a barrage of feminist hatred. Sack the feral who designed these adds. Also the Advertising council should re think their standards for advertising. Advertising has and will to a large extent turn most viewers away from free to air television. The abuse of advertising to gain the almighty Dollar is pushing more and more people towards the internet and the P.V.R’s. Thank common sense that people have complained about these adds.
I think the ad is quite repulsive. Can only describe it as “toilet humour” and do we really need to lower ourselves to that level. Please lets lift our game, if not for our own sake, then for the sake of our children. Found it hard to watch!
I found the ads funny. I usually ignore ads on TV however these adds caught my attention.
Anybody who complained about these is pathetic. Harden up
Looks like they have want they wanted, heaps of free media
I was having a snack when the advert came on of the man picking his nose and wiping it on the upholstery YUK!. I do not see any need for this advert. kids will think it OK to do it.
These are gross adds and the sooner they are pulled off the air the better.Do we always have to bring our selves below the line???
I hate the adds and don’t like the number plates either.. just sayin’
I just see this as an advert proving how the NSW Government and RMS are ripping off the dumbos who buy personalised plates. A personal plate ensures that your friends know where you are or up to. No privacy. Ha ha.
So what is the problem?
I came in late on the subject
I have watched the ads and found nothing wrong. Rather funny (because its true).
What the heck is going on with someone being who they are, i.e. Male????????
Anyone got a problem with that?! Someone probably will.
I have been at MANY an intersection as a professional driver and witnessed dozens upon dozens of women miss lights due to doing their hair/ makeup or on their phone, mainly on their phone. Ladies get the f off your phones. Yes, us truck drivers see you. Don’t think no-one notices… I do.
The cops are even keener noticers.
Get the f off your phones. You put me at risk and I have a very lovely loving family to consider and go home to.
I don’t see mine often but when I do I would like to be in one piece.
Thank you.
Please observe the rules of the road…
Yours Truly,
An Observant Road User
“Not intended to be offensive: designed to be funny” huh? Pity you forgot the word discrimination in your considerations Mr. . . And the whole experience is all the more compouned by the fact that the content you are displaying so closely mirrors the reality of human behaviours – Which is NOT what decent people permit to enter their homes. The ad’s are both indecent and divisive – Get them off!
Why are blokes always fair game when it comes to taking the micky,I am sure there are a lot of women out there that I would not allow sit in my car,How about a woman proof number plate?Have we not heard of discrimination.
There’s 350 people out there that need to lighten up and get a sense of humour! Anyway, 350 out of the total number who would have viewed the add would be a small percentage. Perhaps the govt could fund free tissues for these sooky souls!
I am more offended by the the number of adds in the comments. Since when has ad had two d’s.
The ads may have been intended to be funny, but they contain scenes with men behaving in an offensive manner, this tends to marginalise the humour.
Recorded music played via speakers in hotel lobbies etc, is nearly always banal and low key. This music is calculated to offend the least number of people, it is not designed to appeal to the majority. It does , of course, appeal to a minority.
Perhaps there are now more men who are prepared to protest at the increasing trend towards labelling all, or even most men, as filthy undisciplined little boys.
women fart, women pick their noses, it is just that we live in a society that prefers to pretend that they don’t.
The first time I saw the “manproof” tvc I thought, wow there’s a whole load of complaints coming up…
Who are these idiots complaining about a nose pick?
Obviously they don’t live in the real world when they consider this to be one of the big problems in life
I saw the ad with booger before it got pixelated and I gagged when the guy smeared it on the door. I was so relieved it got pixelated. What knuckle-head would think it’s funny to smear a booger on the door, most men would be smart enough to smear it under the seat or on the carpet, surely!!! The only funny thing about the ad was that it had to be pixelated because people complained and rightly so. I hope Daryl Head from MyPlates gets our (the taxpayers) money back from the advertising agency for these ads – I can’t believe he thought that the target audience – women – would find them funny. My 13 year old son thinks the ads are hilarious….
What disgusting commercials.
Just a bad, rude TVC. Not funny. Not inviting. Puerile. Smallminded. Why would anyone buy your product or service?
Next time, why don’t you get Jacquie Lambie to write the copy for you.
I find these ads to be nothing more than gratuitous man bashing. Highly offensive and very sexist. I can’t for the life of me understand how the RMS – which has as its minister Duncan Gay, an old-style conservative National Party man – ever allowed these ads to go to air.
Absolutely love these ads.
Be grateful that they were not only noticed but well comprehended in an otherwise sea of average,advertising.
As others have said, it’s the cheap and crass execution more than the ideas themselves (which are pretty base to begin with) that are the issue here.
Needing to show a close-up of snot on the end of a finger to get laughs really is evidence that you’re not doing it right.
Apart from that, these are just another instalment in the ‘all men are idiots’ genre… of which there are many. Tiresome in the extreme. Although any woman likely to be attracted to these hideous plates would probably enjoy this particular brand of advertising.
7/10 for strategy.
4/10 for idea.
1/10 for execution.
Looks like their after the “Bogan” demographic….
I remember the second ad above caught my attention because I thought the product would be popular with ladies in their twenties, but was in some way was a little unfair to men. I don’t find anything wrong with the ads, only the first. That is beyond disgusting. I know in my family, we would purposely change the channel if we saw the ad. I think they could have gone about marketing the product a little better, but what the hey? If they’ve got free publicity, then kudos to them.
‘Just because you’re offended, doesn’t mean you’re right’
– Ricky Gervais
What ever happened to a joke these days.
Lighten up people, its called humour.
Congratulations!
Well done.
There has clearly been a Hills District-driven campaign to complain.
Awesome.
My wife and I find the adds in question, the one depicting snot , and the one with farting ,to be a very bad example for children, and to be rude ,even by our standards today ,also to be sexist.
Its not sexist ,its not funny , it just makes me feel sick
Poor Annette, Id invest in a remote control if I were you.
It’ll be a good way to identify stupid females with money to waste. If they think these hideous plates will stop their “bloke” using their car as a rental… WRONG. IF their guy is a massive sissy and has problems with the plates… all it takes is a screwdriver to remove the plates… or scratch them to the point of replacement. And since the ad is generalizing… it’s the men that will have the screwdriver. 🙂