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Ad Standards Community Panel Cases

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E.g., 09/08/2022
E.g., 09/08/2022
September 2010
Case number Ad Standards description Determination Category Mediasort descending Determination date
0382-10 Pharmacare Laboratories
Two young women wearing bikinis are sat on a sandy beach and are approached by two young men, one wearing board shorts, the other wearing brief swimming trunks. The girls openly laugh at the man in the trunks and the camera swings round to show us another man sat in a deckchair. He starts to play his guitar and sing about Boardies over Budgies whilst another man appears from behind a sandcastle, spraying two cans of Brut. Final shot is a close-up of a can of Brut in the sand, with the text "Brut Code #32 Boardies over Budgies.
Dismissed Toiletries 08/09/2010
0387-10 Gazal Apparel Pty Ltd
Jennifer Hawkins wearing different sets of matching pastel-coloured underwear. In some of the shots she is either drinking, licking an ice cream or eating a watermelon. The text at the end of the advertisement reads, "Love Colour. Loveable. Loveable.com.au."
Dismissed Clothing 08/09/2010
October 2011
Case number Ad Standards description Determination Category Mediasort descending Determination date
0382-11 Virbac Australia
The advertisement in question is for Multimin injection for Cattle and depicts a singing cartoon bull, various cartoon cows and calves and features the closing line “who’s your daddy?”
Dismissed Professional Services 12/10/2011
0383-11 Mawarnkarra Health Service
A man fishing and a voiceover discusses the benefits of wearing a condom if you are going to 'get your tackle out'. At the end of the advertisment a woman approaches the man and rests her arm and head on his shoulder whilst the voiceover states that "if it's not on it's not in".
Dismissed Community Awareness 12/10/2011
0384-11 Genea
The advertisement is filmed in black and white and is accompanied by a musical score only. It shows short sequences of a woman and her partner at various stages of her labour and ends with the woman cradling her newborn child.
Dismissed Professional Services 12/10/2011
0386-11 Ford Motor Co of Aust Ltd
The FPV TVC depicts 4-time Bathurst Winner and all Australian touring car champion, Mr Allan Moffat driving the new V8 Supercharged 335kW GT-P {red car} on the Ford Proving Ground test track. Another FPV model, the 315kW GS {blue car} drives alongside. The GS is driven by Mr Paul Batten, an engineer from Prodrive Automotive Australia (51% owner of FPV}. The voiceover on the FPV TVC highlights the new feature of the vehicles, being the supercharged engines, in addition to their relevant power outputs.
Dismissed Vehicle 12/10/2011
0390-11 Reckitt Benckiser (Aust) Pty Ltd
The television TV advertisement is a humorous advertisement for the cleaning product, Easy Off BAM Grime and Soap Scum. The TVC focuses on how a user of the product may be “wowed” by the results and actually enjoy cleaning with the Product. The TVC depicts a man cleaning various surfaces with the product, inside and outside his home, including the shower and a statue of a dolphin.
Dismissed House Goods Services 12/10/2011
0391-11 Just Jeans Group
The TVC depicts a man and a woman in a room showcasing Just Jeans product ie: jeans. The models have only jeans on and no tops.
Dismissed Clothing 12/10/2011
October 2012
Case number Ad Standards description Determination Category Mediasort descending Determination date
0383-12 Centrebet
Two males are approached by five females in black dresses, the lead female retrieves one of the males' mobile phone, whispers, "fire up!" in his ear and then shows the males how to use the Centrebet mobile application. The end frame finishes with the "Fire Up" Centrebet logo device.
Dismissed Other 10/10/2012
0390-12 Target Australia Pty Ltd
Revised version of the Target women’s underwear advertisement features various women modelling the different ranges of underwear available at Target.  In one scene we see a woman wearing peach coloured undies leaning over the bathroom sink.
Dismissed Clothing 10/10/2012
0393-12 Nestle Australia Ltd
The Advertisement forms part of the Smilemaker campaign from ALLENS which features the character of Bravo as he travels Australia with the intention of creating a million more smiles in the course of the campaign. The Advertisement in question shows Bravo at a dance studio where he gets the children to get their parents involved by having them teach dance moves to them.
Dismissed Food/Bev Groceries 10/10/2012
0395-12 Beyond Blue
The advertisement depicted a school aged teenaged boy being bullied at different levels for being left-handed by many of his peers including his family. The voice over compared the boy to people with different sexual preferences to being straight and that intense bulling of this type can cause serious mental illness such as anxiety. At the end the boy is crying and snaps his pencil in half.
Dismissed Community Awareness 10/10/2012
0397-12 National Stroke Foundation
The advertisements show a man dressed in black in a basement. He is using a facsimile of a human brain to demonstrate what happens when someone has a stroke. He is depicted as a serial killer and pokes the brain with a scalpel and then he appears to strike the brain with a hammer. There were 2 advertisements on air during the time the complaints were received.
Upheld - Modified or Discontinued Community Awareness 10/10/2012
0401-12 Drug & Alcohol Office WA
"Think again" with regards to drinking while pregnant. Features Indigenous Australians discussing alcohol consumption.
Dismissed Community Awareness 10/10/2012
September 2010
Case number Ad Standards description Determination Category Mediasort descending Determination date
0384-10 WorkSafe Victoria
A shoe shop employee goes in to the stockroom to fetch a pair of shoes for a waiting customer. The shoes she needs are on a high shelf and as she cannot see the ladder anywhere, she decides to climb up the shelving to reach the shoes. She slips and falls backwards and we see her crack her head on the corner of a table then land on the floor. We hear a crunching noise as she hits the table and her skull appears transluscent as we see a crack appear on it.
Dismissed Community Awareness 22/09/2010
0391-10 Australian Insurance Holdings
Michelle is in the shower singing "Boojay - Boojay" to a little French melody that she has come up with (the new Budget Direct brand melody). Michael, who is in the bathroom shaving, corrects Michelle's pronunciation of 'Budget'. The TVC finishes on a white screen with logo, phone number and Money Magazine Insurer of the Year logo.
Dismissed Insurance 22/09/2010
0404-10 Combe International
Two people are talking about two men, one with grey hair, one without. They discuss that they need the "energy" of one of the men, but also the fact that the other person has more "experience". A voice over then says that you can get the best of both worlds and the heads of the two men blend together. A Men's Haircoluring product - Touch of Grey - is shown with a voice over saying that the product allows you to "comb away a little grey without getting rid of it all".
Dismissed Toiletries 22/09/2010
0406-10 Woolworths Freestanding Liquor
Various customers and employees of BWS are shown buying and selling alcohol. Voiceovers of the customers desribe why they like shopping there, and voiceovers of the employees describe how they like to make the customers feel they care about them. One of the female customers in the shop is carrying a baby in a sling, and another female customer is carrying a toddler who is holding a balloon. The final shot is of the BWS logo and the text, "...too easy."
Dismissed Alcohol 22/09/2010
0409-10 Kraft Foods Ltd
Television advertisement with two boys in a school playground, sitting down eating their lunch and the boys are playing a game with their Oreos by pulling it apart and seeing who gets the side with the icing. One of the boys says that if you get the cream side, you have to marry .... The other boy is displeased and screws his face up. A young girl (one of the girls they have been talking about) runs nearby to collect her basketball, smiles and then runs off with the ball, back to her friends.
Upheld - Modified or Discontinued Food/Bev Groceries 22/09/2010
November 2013
Case number Ad Standards description Determination Category Mediasort descending Determination date
0388-13 Yum Restaurants International
KFC Boneless
Dismissed Food/Bev Venue 27/11/2013
0390-13 CardioTech
Sophie Monk is dressed as a bride, running on a treadmill. She is called to (supposedly) get to the alter, but she declines as she is in her "fat burning zone". Towards the end of the ad, she says, "Burn, you little bastards!"
Dismissed Sport and Leisure 27/11/2013
0394-13 Ministry of Sound
Ministry of sound Bass Nitro TVC.
Dismissed Entertainment 27/11/2013
0397-13 Bonds Industries Ltd
It was an advertisement for Bonds apparel. The theme song was 'spread a bit of love' (or something along those lines), and was displaying some of their new underwear for men and women, as well as baby wear. There was a group of men running through the street wearing online underwear; they ran to a door and rung the bell. A woman comes out and seems happy about watching these men sing Christmas carols. The next scene is a bunch of women running through the street, again wearing only underwear, and rung another door bell and a young man answers the door.
Dismissed Lingerie 27/11/2013
0398-13 Lion
Extra Dry Beer and the man is at a party and goes into the kitchen. His mouth detaches from his face and jumps onto the bench and talks to him. Flashes back to the man with no mouth.
Dismissed Alcohol 27/11/2013
0400-13 Murray Goulburn
An advertisement about devondale milkhttp://devondale.com.au/fun-things/television#devondale-flavoured-milk-cape
Upheld - Modified or Discontinued Food/Bev Groceries 27/11/2013
0401-13 Volkswagen Group Australia Pty Limited
I find the new Volkswagen car ad very stigmatising towards our elderly population, references to hair growing on upper lips, plastic hips, an elderly lady judging her what seems to be gay grandson, and a few other references ... Honestly our elderly population already have to deal with stigma and discrimination on a daily basis, do we really need to see it now on our television ads also?
Dismissed Vehicle 27/11/2013
October 2010
Case number Ad Standards description Determination Category Mediasort descending Determination date
0393-10 Sweetmans
Cartoon style advertisement showing two children transported from a cinema audience into the movie screen. The children are now in a forest setting and there are bags of sweets hanging from the branches of the trees. They follow the path to a house which features a man's open mouth as it's door and a 'wacky looking man' appears and invites the children in to explore lots of fun. We then see the range of Wicked Fizz products on the screen.
Dismissed Food/Bev Groceries 13/10/2010
0396-10 Fosters Australia, Asia & Pacific
Various scenes depicting men acting in ways which surprise their friends, with the soundtrack of the song "Hello, again" playing in the background. One man is shown attempting an overcomplicated handshake when greeting his friend, another is shown applying handcream and then dropping the bottle of beer his friend hands him because his hands are too slippy to hold it.
Dismissed Alcohol 13/10/2010
0399-10 Holeproof
Set in Africa, a Caucasian man has joined the Kalahari tribe and comfortably thinks he is one of them. He fully immerses himself in their way of life, hunting, eating game from their hunt around the camp fire and talking in the Kalahari dialect. After settling down for the night he takes off his Explorer socks and then realises his Explorers have taken him on this amazing adventurer with an African tribe. He then calls home to his mate and says "It's happened again, I think I am in Africa" implying that his Explorer socks have taken him on adventures previously.
Dismissed Clothing 13/10/2010
0400-10 Lion Nathan Aust Pty Ltd
A group of 4 male friends are on a beach. They place a squid in a catapult and launch it over the sand and out to sea. Two men are in a boat and one looks up and sees the squid flying over his head and comments to the other man that he has just seen a flying squid. The XXXX Gold logo then appears on screen, with the text: "Good as Gold"
Dismissed Alcohol 13/10/2010
0407-10 Nestle Australia Ltd
The text "8 kids" appears on the screen in white, bold type and we seen 8 different children, shown separately. The text then changes to read "8 artists" and we see 8 different adults. We then see a montage of the kids working with the adults to create different artwork, with each kid/adult pairing using a different colour. The screen then splits into 9 sqaures and in the outer squares we see the different children, with the background matching the colour of their artwork.
Upheld - Modified or Discontinued Food/Bev Groceries 13/10/2010
0410-10 Newcastle United Jets FC
The advertisement, Sheets, depicts two young men in a suburban backyard taking white sheets off a clothesline as a dog barks at them. They climb over a fence and meet a third young man. A fourth also arrives on the scene with a floral patterned sheet, which causes the others to laugh and give him funny looks. The advertisement then cuts to crowd footage from a Newcastle Jets Hyundai A-League match showing fans waving large banners and flags, and a male voice over encourages support for the Jets at their forthcoming match.
Dismissed 13/10/2010
0412-10 MLC Ltd
A man is sat on the couch looking at his laptop.
Dismissed Insurance 13/10/2010
0413-10 Titan Enterprises (Qld) Pty Ltd
Male voice over says "Kings of Steel, we're unreal!" and we see a logo for Titan Garages and Sheds. A red convertible then rolls in to shot, with one man driving and another in the back seat. We then see a couple arrive home from a camping trip. The wife is surprised to find the the husband has very happily sold the house and moved them into his new Titan Ozbarn.
Dismissed Professional Services 13/10/2010
October 2011
Case number Ad Standards description Determination Category Mediasort descending Determination date
0394-11 Myriad Marketing
Cartoon based commercial featuring a stick figure performing various actions with a Push Pop. The Push Pop is almost the same size as the stick figure and is carried on the figure's back like a backpack. The figure uses the Push Pop to fend off animated dogs, a creature and a cross life guard.
Dismissed Food/Bev Groceries 26/10/2011
0397-11 Motor Accident Commission SA
30 second anti-drink drive road safety TVC depicting the aftermath of a car crash. The drink driver responsible talks to camera, describing those involved as ‘only a little bit of grief’, ‘only a little bit hurt’, only a ‘little bit dead’ and finally himself as ‘only a little bit over’ the legal BAC. End super states ‘Just Over? Just Don’t Drive’.
Dismissed Community Awareness 26/10/2011
0398-11 Toyota Motor Corp Aust Ltd
The advertisement features a pair of comedians attempting to recreate an incident (breaking a post) with the football player responsible for the original incident, Leigh 'Lethal' Matthews. Being unable to do so under the same conditions as the original incident, the three men resolve to pull the post down with a rope (after considerable effort). The final shot shows the men jumping in the air and then we see the Toyota slogan, “Oh what a feeling!”
Dismissed Vehicle 26/10/2011
0400-11 Campari
Four men are stood at the bar of a pub when one of them spots Jimmy Barnes and says to his mates that he is going to give Jimmy 'the bird'. His mates look worried as we see the man call out to Jimmy and start raising his arm and then they relax when they see he is holding up a bottle of Wild Turkey. Jimmy acknowledges the man and comes over to join the four men at the bar and the final shot is of all the men talking and holding a bottle of Wild Turkey each.
Dismissed Alcohol 26/10/2011
0401-11 Triple M
A voice over lists 'everything Melbourne' and we see a montage of images which are intended to encapsulate Melbourne: footy finals, parks, Collins Street, comedy and so on, finishing with Eddie, Luke and Mick from Triple M. One scene shows a man shaking a sausage over a BBQ.
Dismissed Entertainment 26/10/2011
0404-11 Sportsbet
The advertisement opens with a man poking a bikini-clad woman's thigh with his finger as though he is tapping the screen of a phone. We then see a man tapping his finger in a cold freezer and his finger falls off, then we see a man tapping a voodoo doll and the man the doll represents is seen in the background falling in a fish tank.
Dismissed Professional Services 26/10/2011
0406-11 Harvey Norman
Harvey Norman staff advertise a 4 day sales event for stores located in Fyshwick, Woden and Goulburn and in one scene a female member of staff pops up out of a chest freezer she has been apparently hiding in.
Upheld - Modified or Discontinued Retail 26/10/2011
October 2012
Case number Ad Standards description Determination Category Mediasort descending Determination date
0402-12 Johnson & Johnson Pacific Pty Ltd
Shows women inappropriately pulling at their clothing purportedly for uncomfortable sanitary napkins.
Dismissed Toiletries 24/10/2012
0406-12 Haribo Australia Pty Ltd
This is a 30 second advertisement. It depicts a young girl in white lab coat and large glasses as conducting an experiment. She narrates the entire ad. Multiple children are shown playing with Haribo Goldbears, smelling them and eating them. The children are unable to resist eating the lollies. “The evidence is clear, Haribo is just too good”. The ad ends with a Haribo jingle.
Dismissed Food/Bev Groceries 24/10/2012
0409-12 Tabcorp
The ad is called ‘How's Your Form’. It shows men placing a bet and winning and women looking on as they celebrate their win.
Dismissed Gambling 24/10/2012
November 2011
Case number Ad Standards description Determination Category Mediasort descending Determination date
0409-11 Energy Watch
The founder of Energy Watch presenting key information relative to the operation of the business and its success with customers. An actual testimonial was used to present the potential savings of their specific circumstance. The advertisement then concludes with the founder urging consumers to check if their power company has something to hide and to contact EnergyWatch.
Dismissed House Goods Services 09/11/2011
0410-11 S C Johnson & Son Pty Ltd
Two magpies are watching a man reading his newspaper in his back yard. One of the magpies flies round and rings the front doorbell and as the man goes inside to answer the door the other magpie flies down and closes the patio door. The man opens the door and there is no-one there so he goes back inside and walks straight in to the closed patio door whilst the magpies watch and laugh at his misfortune. The voice over says, “Windex. It’s so powerful it starts to work even before you wipe. Leaving you with an unbeatable streak free shine.”
Dismissed House Goods Services 09/11/2011
0411-11 Coopers Brewery Ltd
We open on black and white line animation of a suburban house. We cut to DIY Dennis banging a nail into a wall. He then hangs a painting on the nail.
Dismissed Alcohol 09/11/2011
December 2013
Case number Ad Standards description Determination Category Mediasort descending Determination date
0410-13 Unilever Australasia
This advertisement for Streets “Trop-o-Saurus Slime” icy pole products has been broadcast since October 2013 on commercial television in Sydney, Perth and Melbourne. Two young children (a young boy and a young girl) are seen running through a jungle, before they find a PaddlePop Trop-o-Saurus “slime” icy pole in what appears to be a dinosaur egg. The young boy takes an enthusiastic bite as the product is described by a male voiceover: “New Paddle Pop Trop-o-Saurus Slime: with a gooey tangy sauce inside and a tasty tropical outside: because every great adventure needs a great treat!
Dismissed Food/Bev Groceries 11/12/2013
0412-13 Virgin Money (Australia) Pty Limited
I have seen many sexist and degrading advertisements in my time but this one takes the cake. This advertisement depicts a "gold-digging" female discussing her excitement for life insurance as her 80-year old husband sits quietly next to her.
Dismissed Insurance 11/12/2013
December 2011
Case number Ad Standards description Determination Category Mediasort descending Determination date
0412-11 Chrysler Australia Pty Ltd
The Advertisement shows a Jeep Wrangler driving on a beach and features a Kite surfer. The Advertisement cuts from the driving to the Kite surfer surfing a large wave. The following disclaimer is shown on screen: Filmed under controlled conditions using a professional driver.
Dismissed Vehicle 07/12/2011

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