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The advert, which was withdrawn by Unilever before the ASA made its decision, showed three young women dancing in a seated position in the back of a vehicle.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”.

The young woman was then shown using the deodorant and a voiceover said: “Sure Girl keeps you fresh all day so you can keep having fun. Sure Girl, it won’t let you down.”

However, members of the public complained to the ASA that the advert was “outrageous and irresponsible” because seat belts weren’t being worn.

In response, the advertisers said there was “no suggestion” that the van was in motion at the time, and that the vintage Volkswagen being used did not require seatbelts because of its age. The complaint was upheld and the ASA cautioned advertisers to show added care when advertising products that will attract younger viewers “who might be more likely to copy unsafe practices”.

The Sure Girl advert was one of 17 in which complaints were upheld by the ASA in its latest round of decisions. A total of 29 TV, print, radio and internet adverts were the subject of complaint.

Auctioneers Sherry Fitzgerald Gallagher were upbraided for promoting a housing development in Keshcarrigan, Co Leitrim, as being “just 90 minutes from Dublin” when a travel time of two hours and 53 minutes was quoted on the AA’s route-planner.

In response, the advertisers said they defined Dublin as “the M50 plus five to 10 miles north or south of the N4/M50 interchange” rather than O’Connell Street in the city centre.

They also said that, as the advertised property was a holiday home, people would typically travel on a Saturday morning when the journey “from a majority of Dublin residential addresses should not take much more than 90 minutes”.

Tesco was told not to repeat an advert which promoted “30% off all kidswear” after a complainant bought socks but was not given a discount.

It emerged that the offer excluded underwear, socks and nightwear and, while Tesco maintained that the advertising material was “asterisked” to refer to the exclusions, the ASA upheld the complaint.

The ASA warned retailers not to include the word “all” in a promotion while providing for exclusions in the small print.

Complaints not upheld by the ASA included one objecting to the use of the word “fresh” on advertising for Avonmore’s new chunky soup.

An advert for Paddy Power in which they claimed “we’ve gone crazy” for a special betting offer accompanied by a picture of a man in a straitjacket, was the subject of one complaint but this wasn’t upheld.

Neither were complaints about a radio advert for Xtra-Vision which featured a child’s voice saying “die piggy bank die” upon hearing of an offer of children’s videos for 50c per night.