Lack of seatbelts puts spray TV ad in breach of standards

A TV advert for deodorant which portrayed three young women dancing in the back seat of a car was in breach of the advertising code because the women were not wearing seatbelts.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld complaints made against the advert, for Sure Girl deodorant, on the basis that the non-wearing of seatbelts “constituted an unsafe practice”.

The advert, which was withdrawn by Unilever before the ASA made its decision, showed three young women dancing in a seated position in the back of a vehicle. Two of the girls then moved away from the girl in the centre who had developed damp patches in her armpits and a screen text stated “the fun stops when the sweat starts”.