Significant seven: most complained about ads
Over the next few days, we are publishing highlights from this year’s Mumbrella Annual.
1 Rip & Roll, Queensland Association for Health Communities
The most complained about ad this year was a poster showing two men hugging, one of them holding a condom packet. The ad received 222 complaints, most of them made by the Australian Christian Lobby, Adshel copped flack – including a street protest outside its offices – for taking the ads down and was lambasted for being homophobic. Ad Standards dismissed the complaints.
2 Energy Watch
Is it amazing that this ad ever made it out of a drunk creative’s dream let alone on to television. The ad was banned after receiving 75 complaints for depicting Indian people as shifty door knockers.

What has the world come to when some of those in your face sexy ads get through, and complaints are dismissed?
Rather, where to next?
I don’t want to be along for the ride,as the world is wicked enough now,and I believe in a little decorum
Drove past the tool shop one every day, call me naive but It took me a while to ‘get’ this ads joke, I mean I understood the threesome bit but did it also imply the tool shop caters for mechanics, chippies and whatever the other one is? Im not sure,,, its just not clear enough.
The one they replaced it with is really bland, plus it fails where I see many large outdoor ads fail, by having text so small you cant read it or in a font so abstract you cant make it out.
Who made these toolshop ads? I hope it was an armature.
My condolences on living in a country that “regulates” advertising, particularly in such a capricious manner. Free speech a bit too much for you to handle? Sheesh…..
But Tex, will no-one think of the children?
Tex Lovera (above) can’t be serious. Handing free speech to TV advertisers is like giving Jack the Ripper a machnegun. They provide smiling strangers who lie and dodgy products that don’t work or have exaggerated benefits. .TV funeral plan adverts are repeated so often they amount to mind control experiments.
I simply turn them all off with my remote!