Sewn up mouth ad is banned
A print ad for a cosmetic dental surgery featuring a pair of lips sewn together has been banned by the Advertising Standards Board because of its violent overtones.
The City Smile ad ran in The Age newspaper in Melbourne but it generated a complaint that it was reminiscent of ‘boat people’ who had sewn their lips closed in protest at delays in asylum applications.
The ad featured a man with four crosses stitched over his closed mouth. Copy said: “Taking drastic measures to hide your teeth?”
The complainant said: “The only other time I have ever heard of a person sewing their lips together has been in the case of ‘boat people’ who had been detained by the Department of Immigration for undue amounts of time. Their response in desperation was to protest their mistreatment by sewing their lips together. I object to the callus use of such an image.”
City Smile argued that the ad did not breach any advertising codes, but the ASB ruled: “”The Board considered that the image was realistic and was a depiction of a man’s mouth sewn shut. The Board considered that this was a depiction of an act of violence against a man or of self harm, again an act of violence.”
However, it ruled that the ad was not demeaning to refugees in particular.
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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Banning the sewn mouth ad sends a ripple of fear up my spine; it may be insensitive and even bad taste, but banning the ad is worse: it’s a signal that society is being increasingly controlled by a politically over-corrected bureaucracy. And where does that lead? George Orwell showed us in his book 1984 – it leads to Newspeak and all sorts of ghastly social control regimens. I’d prefer to see a ban on stupidity …
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well said Andrew
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The ASB is a self-regulatory body. There’s no terrible government bureaucrat making decisions here.
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A complaint.
Not complaints. Or several complaints. Or even a handful of complaints. A single complaint.
I’ll bet Outraged of Canterbury is feeling pretty pleased with herself right about now.
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Touchy subject, this. A sewn up mouth is offensive. And not. So is a 15 year old dancing around in her underwear. Or a beaver pretending to be pussy. Or countless other images on TV. To a few, many or the majority. But if a regulator bans something – live with it and move on. If you don’t like the self-appointed regulation authority then work from within the industry and chance it. Good luck. All this talk about 1984 is nonsense.
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Andrew – if there were a ban on stupidity, i wouldn’t know what to do!
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