Further evidence has emerged on the difficulties of keeping children safe online following a ruling over a “seriously offensive” mobile game ad that promoted a scenario involving sexual hints from a stepdaughter, which objectified women and used harmful gender stereotypes.
The Advertising Standards Authority launched an investigation into the app Animals Solitaire: Protect after a complainant argued an in-game promotion was irresponsible and offensive.
The ad, seen in October 2025, depicted an animated woman in lingerie and stockings with her legs spread, accompanied by the text: “Your wife’s away on a business trip… It’s just you and your stepdaughter Fiona at home. She seems to be dropping sexual hints.”
Viewers were invited to “select a scene”, with options including “Fiona in the Shower” and “Fiona’s Bedroom at Night”.
The ASA ruling found that the ad alluded to a “potentially incestuous relationship”, which was likely to cause widespread offence. The regulator noted that the “select a scene” mechanic – reminiscent of pornographic tropes – portrayed the character as a “passive sexual object” for the viewer’s gratification.
Under the CAP Code, marketing must not include gender stereotypes likely to cause harm or serious offence. The watchdog concluded the campaign was a clear breach of social responsibility rules.
The developer of Animals Solitaire: Protect claimed the ad was intended to be “light-hearted” and not meant to objectify women. However, it confirmed the campaign has been withdrawn and pledged to strengthen future screening processes.
Unity Ads, the network responsible for serving the promotion, stated that while advertisers are responsible for their own content, it has now blocked the ad from its platform following the investigation.
The ASA has warned the developers that future advertising must be prepared with a sense of responsibility to society and must avoid the sexualisation of women to prevent further breaches.
The ruling follows a “offensive and harmful” ad, which ran last year, for a US-based professional photographic studio which popped up in the search results for eBay UK.
The ad for Glamour Shots appeared under the headline “A21Voluptuous Busty Model”, and showed a full-length image of a woman with a very large bust, wearing a top which exposed most of her breasts, followed by pricing information.
Cue a raft of companies – including eBay, Google, affiliate marketing agency Genie Ventures and Glamour Shots – all passing the buck.
At the time, one industry source said: “This case shows how easy it is for this sort of explicit content to get through the net, as the processes are all so automated. Neither eBay nor Google have accepted any responsibility – or even apologised. They simply blame the affiliate marketing agency for breaching their policies. But if ‘adverts’ like this can get through so easily, what else are children being exposed to?”
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