Sprite ad that said 'she's seen more ceilings than Michelangelo' ruled offensive
The ad campaign was featured on two Irish websites.
A SPRITE AD that said “she’s seen more ceilings… than Michelangelo” has been ruled sexist by the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI).
In its latest report, out today, the ASAI said that the ads under the subject of the complaints were featured on Joe.ie and Waterford Whispers.
They were for Sprite’s ‘brutally refreshing’ campaign and featured bottles of Sprite Zero and regular Sprite alongside the following captions:
- “She’s seen more ceilings… Than Michelangelo”
- “You’re not popular… You’re easy”
- “A 2 at 10 is a 10 at 2”
There were 10 complaints received in relation to the campaign.
All complainants considered that the advertising was sexist, degrading to women, offensive and insulting. Several of the complainants also considered that the advertisement was misogynistic.
In response to the complaints, the advertisers said that they “strive to deliver the highest standards of advertising”.
According to the ASAI ruling, the advertisers “recognised that on this occasion the content had not met with their or their consumers’ expectations”.
“They also said that when they realised their advertising was causing concern, they immediately had it removed and issued a public apology for any offence caused,” the decision said.
Unacceptable
The complaints were upheld. The complaints committee noted that the advertising code acknowledged that humour was acceptable in advertising but that the portrayal of people should not be likely “to cause grave or widespread offence, or to cause hostility, contempt, abuse or ridicule”.
They also noted the requirement for advertisers to “avoid the exploitation of sexuality and the use of coarseness and undesirable innuendo” and that “offensive or provocative copy or images” should not be used merely to attract attention.
It considered that the advertising had caused grave offence, had been exploitative of sexuality and had used coarse and undesirable innuendo. In addition, it had used offensive and provocative copy.
Because the ads had already been withdrawn, no further action was required in this case.
Written by Aoife Barry and posted on TheJournal.ie
