The Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland has upheld complaints about a press advertisement for iTouch, the information technology company, which featured a close-up picture of a man's torso wearing a leotard with the heading "A hell of a lot in a very small space".
The complainants felt the advertisement was "coarse, vulgar, tasteless, objectionable and offensive". Some complainants felt the photograph used and part of the text were bordering on the pornographic.
Upholding the objections, the ASAI's complaints committee said an advertisement should not contain anything that would be likely to cause grave or widespread offence.
"Advertisers should take account of public sensitivities in the preparation and publication of advertisements and avoid the exploitation of sexuality and the use of coarseness and undesirable innuendo."
The company said it was never its intention to offend anyone. It was targeting all mobile phone owners in Ireland who had a wap handset or who would upgrade to a wap handset. The campaign message was that you could get a lot of information into your mobile phone (a hell of a lot in a small space).
A radio advertisement for the Nissan Almera car was also the subject of complaints upheld by the committee. The advertisement, which was aired just before 6 p.m., opened with Angelus bells before breaking into a musical beat and the commercial script.
The complainants considered the advertisement had been carefully contrived and timed to mislead listeners into thinking that the Angelus was being broadcast, thereby gaining listeners' attention to promote the sale of Nissan cars. They felt the use of the Angelus bell for the sale of goods was offensive.
The committee said advertisers needed to be aware that the treatment of religion or religious symbols, which could be of deep and personal importance to individuals, should be handled with extreme care.
Nissan said its commercial was promoted on 27 radio stations. "The underlying theme running through all of the executions was to depict different `audio signposts' which radio listeners could readily relate to and immediately identify with during the course of the day, e.g. weather reports, traffic updates and the Angelus." It said advertising was a creative business and it believed this commercial provided "a creative and interesting way of communicating their message".
Complaints about an advertisement for Paddy Power bookmakers were also upheld. The advert featured a picture of a rabbit with one foot missing and a bandage around the leg stump. They found the image of a maimed animal "tasteless, shocking and upsetting".
The company said it could not agree that the advertisement promoted animal cruelty. If it had, it would not have run it in the first place. The advertisement formed part of a campaign that used various luck motifs to bring to life the fun of betting.