Lovehoney spanked by ASA for Prince Harry ball-gag ad

Sex toy specialist Lovehoney has been given a tongue-lashing for its outdoor campaign, launched to coincide with the publication of Prince Harry’s Spare, featuring a ball-gag alongside the words “Silence is golden, Harry”.

Just one complainant contacted the Advertising Standards Authority over the ad, and challenged whether it was both offensive and inappropriate for display in an untargeted medium where children could see it.

In response to the ASA’s enquiries, Lovehoney said that it did not believe the ad was offensive and pointed to the fact the memoir contained a number of indiscreet revelations, some of which had a sexual reference.

At the time the ad was published, Lovehoney explained its motivation for the ad and how it should have been understood, which included that it was meant to be humorous and that not all family stories needed to be shared with the public.

Secondly, the firm did not believe that the ad was inappropriate for display in an untargeted medium where children could see it, arguing that a ball gag had no explicit sexual reference and its way of use was not readily identifiable without further knowledge.

Lovehoney also claimed that children would not recognise it as a sex toy, and there was nothing in the ad to change that. Neither the picture nor the text spoke to children and therefore made it uninteresting to them. They would, therefore, either ignore it or, at most, wonder what it was about, yet, without seeing any inappropriate hints. Lovehoney therefore believed that this was insufficient to exceed the threshold of inappropriateness.

London Lites, the media site owner, acknowledged the complaint but did not provide a substantive response.

However, the ASA said it considered that some people would find the image of, and references to, a ball gag and the implication that it should be used to stop someone from speaking distasteful. But it did conclude that the ad was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence.

Even so, ASA took a dim view of the placing of the ad, insisting that, as it had appeared on a digital billboard at a busy train station, it had the potential to be seen by a large number of people, including children.

The watchdog stated: “We considered that while younger children were likely to be unaware of what the item was, older children might have greater awareness of what the object was intended for. We therefore considered that the ad was inappropriate for outdoor display.”

It concluded that the ad had been irresponsibly targeted and breached CAP Code. Banning the ad from appearing again in the form complained of, the ASA warned Lovehoney to ensure that its ads were appropriately targeted in the future.