Bad choices

An ad for a ‘choose your own adventure’ app raised concerns about consent, showing a woman who has fallen through a ceiling being approached by someone in the room below holding an adult toy. The accompanying text asks ‘What will you choose?’ with two options, ‘stop it’ or ‘please continue’.  

The Community Panel acknowledged that the ad was promoting an app where people can make choices in stories with adult themes, but the scenario depicted did not provide any context indicating consent to a sexual act. The complaint was upheld.

Upheld - AANA Code of Ethics (Violence and Sex, Sexuality and Nudity)

Don't forget your helmet

A YouTube video promoting an electric bike showed several scenes of people riding the bike without a helmet.

The Community Panel found that showing people riding bikes without a helmet goes against established community standards of health and safety. The complaint was upheld.

Upheld - AANA Code of Ethics (Health and Safety)

Up in smoke

A poster advertising a tobacconist that featured a caricature of a man in a feather headdress sitting cross-legged and smoking a pipe raised concerns about both discrimination and health and safety.

The Community Panel found that the poster could be harmful to minority populations by turning cultural beliefs into comedic stereotypes for commercial purposes. They also found that Australians do not tolerate images promoting smoking that attract the attention of children. The complaint was upheld.

Upheld - AANA Code of Ethics (Discrimination or Vilification, Health and Safety)

Hungry for more? Check out these recently published decisions

• Toyota - Dismissed |Environmental Claim
• Universal Pictures - Upheld| Language
• Clutch Co - Upheld| Health and Safety
• Harris Farm - Dismissed | Misleading
• Umbrella Entertainment - Dismissed | Violence

Find all the latest decisions at adstandards.com.au/cases

We’ve launched our own ad campaign!

We’re really excited to have launched our very own ad campaign.

As we mark 25 years since the establishment of Ad Standards, we’re using the power of advertising to remind Australians about our important role in giving a voice to community concerns.

A special shout out to the talented team at Omnicom Media Group, ANZ for helping us bring this campaign to life and to the media owners who have generously donated space across TV, radio, cinema, out-of-home and online.