An ad on www.car-supermarkets.com has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority after it featured a Seventies throwback image of a topless woman draped over a car, under the headline: “You know you’re not the first … but who cares?”.
Complainants objected that the ad was offensive, because they believed the image and the text was sexist and objectified women, even though the woman’s breasts and part of her stomach were covered by a black sheet.
The company which owned the site, SaveMoneyOnCars.co.uk (SMOC) said it appreciated there was a fine line between innuendo and sexism but claimed the ad was cheeky rather than offensive.
It said the majority of visitors to the site, which had been over a million during the period the ad was displayed, had not complained, adding that the ad had therefore not caused widespread offence. However it did remove the ad when contacted by the ASA.
Although the watchdog noted SMOC had withdrawn the ad, it concluded that it objectified women through sexual imagery and innuendo in a manner unrelated to the product advertised and was likely to cause serious or widespread offence.
It ruled the ad must not appear again in its current form.
has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority after it featured a Seventies throwback image of a topless woman draped over the car, under the headline: “You know you’re not the first … but who cares?”.
Complainants objected that the ad was offensive, because they believed the image and the text was sexist and objectified women, even though the woman’s breasts and part of her stomach were covered by a black sheet.
The company which owns the site, SaveMoneyOnCars.co.uk (SMOC), said it appreciated there was a fine line between innuendo and sexism but claimed the ad was cheeky rather than offensive.
It said the majority of visitors to the site, which had been over a million during the period the ad was displayed, had not complained, adding that the ad had therefore not caused widespread offence. However it did remove the ad when contacted by the ASA.
Although the watchdog noted SMOC had withdrawn the ad, it concluded that it objectified women through sexual imagery and innuendo in a manner unrelated to the product advertised and was likely to cause serious or widespread offence.
It ruled the ad must not appear again in its current form.
