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Ad Standards Community Panel Cases

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E.g., 13/08/2022
E.g., 13/08/2022
January 2011
Case number Ad Standards description Determination Category Mediasort descending Determination date
0001-11 Browne's Foods
A male voice over describes the benefits of drinking Chill – a flavoured milk – when performing various tasks, and we see accompanying footage of men performing these tasks. One description is that Chill “does the job when we’re polishing knobs” and we see a man polishing a door knob then drinking Chill. Another description states that Chill “hits the spot when we’re busy on top” and we see two men on a high building. The final shot is of a large truck with the words “Man Up” and an image of a carton of Chill on the side.
Dismissed Food/Bev Groceries 19/01/2011
0024-11 Meat & Livestock Australia Ltd
Sam Kekovich promotes the eating of lamb on Australia Day 2011. Sam is shown in front of various European backdrops and for each one he talks about how the eating of lamb is declining in these places, which is un-Australian. He refers to people as Cretins in one scene.
Dismissed Food/Bev Groceries 19/01/2011
February 2011
Case number Ad Standards description Determination Category Mediasort descending Determination date
0002-11 Queensland Transport
Five television ads in total are named in the complaint. All are branded with the same ending of Slow down stupid: 1. Nightmare – Beach scene, young male driver kills his girlfriend in a speed related crash. 2. Faces - shows the faces of actors portraying dead mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, friends and lovers who have all been killed as a result of speeding crashes. 3. In a Flash - highlights what fathers with young families potentially have to lose if they are killed suddenly and unexpectedly in a speeding crash.
Dismissed Community Awareness 09/02/2011
0004-11 Hewlett-Packard Australia Pty Ltd
A baby in a baby walker is shown weaving his way in and out of traffic. At the end of the advertisement the baby's parents print out pictures of his adventure using a HP ePrint.
Dismissed Other 09/02/2011
0006-11 Southern Phone Company
The advertisement opens with a Southern Phone employee having lunch in a café. On the next table is seated a businessman who engages the Southern Phone employee in a conversation about Southern Phone’s services. The businessman asks whether, when he calls Southern Phone, a “Aussie” will answer the call, not a machine. A woman seated on a nearby table in the café joins in the conversation and asks the Southern Employee to confirm whether it is “not someone in India? Or in the Philippines?” who will answer the call.
Dismissed Telecommunications 09/02/2011
0011-11 Optus Communications
Two Computer Generated Image (CGI) crocodiles are filmed playing a round of tennis on the Australian Open centre court. The crocodiles use their tails as racquets, but instead of hitting a tennis ball, they hit a CGI squirrel. The TVC shows an Optus replay of a point in dispute (a line call) with a voice-over promoting watching the Australian Open streamed live ‘on your compatible Optus 3G mobile’.
Dismissed Telecommunications 09/02/2011
0014-11 AAMI
The ad is play on the musical "Hair" but renamed to "Fair". It follows a man in a street where as a safe driver he is avoiding accidents. He is joined in the street by various people, including a group of bikini clad girls working at a car wash.
Dismissed Insurance 09/02/2011
0017-11 3D Inspiration Paint Store
A man and woman standing near a ladder and painting a white brick wall red, the man makes a comment about the choice of colour, the woman gets him to hold the paint roller and moves off screen. Woman walks back in with a frying pan and hits man over the back of his head with the frying pan, he falls down. Woman then pushes over the ladder and mockingly calls out for help. Ad then shows Bathurst 3D paint centre.
Dismissed Retail 09/02/2011
0018-11 Victa Mowers
A man is cutting his grass. A woman emerges from the house next door and they exchange glances, smiles and waves. A male voice over describes the features of the mower and how it can reduce your mowing time “by up to 40%” The voice over then goes on to say that the mower is so efficient “you’ll have time to cut your neighbour’s grass” and we see the man about to enter the woman’s house, where she is waiting for him.
Dismissed Hardware/Machinery 09/02/2011
0019-11 Coles
Chef Curtis Stone in a butcher’s apron talking about “no added hormones” beef sold in Coles Supermarkets. We see close ups of beef in the supermarket, and posters on the walls of the supermarket promoting the same message.
Dismissed Food/Bev Groceries 09/02/2011
0025-11 Mitsubishi Motors Aust Ltd
A man and a woman are unloading their bikes from their Mitsubishi Outlander inthe countryside and are joined by a male friend riding his bike. The car owner explains the features of his new car to the friend who has joined them, using first technical speak and then simpler language. The final shot is of the man and woman leaning against the car with the man saying, "Love that car."
Dismissed Vehicle 09/02/2011
0026-11 FOXTEL Management Pty Ltd
A group of four female friends are discussing the new FOXTEL on Xbox 360 service. One of the woman's flatmate walks in wearing a pair of board shorts and carrying a surf board. The women admire him as well as the Xbox and one of them asks, "Where can I get one of those?" whilst the others laugh.
Dismissed Entertainment 09/02/2011
0027-11 iSelect Pty Ltd
A fictitious office with actors portraying staff and an actor as an implied manager. The lead character poses questions to various staff specifically “are we a health fund”. The final interplay is with a female character where she interrupts to correct him with regard to her actual name.
Dismissed Insurance 09/02/2011
0029-11 Fosters Australia, Asia & Pacific
A male voice over reads out a letter which begins with, "Dear Tom.
Dismissed Alcohol 09/02/2011
0030-11 Volvo Car Aust Pty Ltd
A voice over talks about the new Volvo S60 and states, "Thanks to industry guidlelines, we're unable to show you the all-new Volvo S60 being naught." We then see various shots of parts of the car whilst the voice over describes the features of the car.
Dismissed Vehicle 09/02/2011
0031-11 Cancer Institute of NSW
A group of women are at a restaurant. Two of the women leave the table to go outside for a cigarette and ask a third woman if she is going to join them. This woman says no, but she looks as though she would have preferred to say yes. A male voice over then says, "Willpower's like a muscle - the more you use your willpower the stronger it gets" and we see a silhoutte of a muscled arm lifting a dumb bell, followed by a shot of the woman joining her smoking friends and looking comfortable at the fact she is not smoking.
Dismissed Community Awareness 09/02/2011
January 2013
Case number Ad Standards description Determination Category Mediasort descending Determination date
0002-13 Sportsbet
This advertisement repeatedly refers to Christmas being full of "saggy ball sacks", and shows a bag holding two cricket balls obviously meant to represent a male scrotum and testicles.
Dismissed Gambling 30/01/2013
0007-13 BCF
I am writing to complain about an ad running on TV from the company BCF (Boating Camping Fishing). The ad depicts two men sitting in a boar. One man has an oce chest and the other has a portable fridge.
Dismissed 30/01/2013
0009-13 FOXTEL Management Pty Ltd
It's the 2012 Christmas Ad for Foxtel/ Nickelodian involving Santa's Elves.
Dismissed Entertainment 30/01/2013
0012-13 Transport for NSW
'Plan B' advertising campaign by the RTA, about random breath testing and encouraging people to find alternate transport home when drinking to avoid 'drink driving'. It features a man in his twenties fantasizing about the various ways he could get home after a night out, in order to avoid drink driving.
Dismissed Community Awareness 30/01/2013
0016-13 One Harvest
Little older lady in store, and she passes a man with a tray of mangoes in his trolley. She looks at them, with that certain expression on her face, and man stops at shelf to reach for an item. Lady stands next to him and tries to reach up, so man says "Can I help you?" He reaches up and asks "Which do you want. Is this it?" All that time lady is taking mangoes out of his tray and puts them into her trolley. She stops taking mangoes when he turns and looks at her. Then she says "Thank you very much. What a nice man", and walks away. Then mangoes picture appears.
Dismissed Food/Bev Groceries 30/01/2013
0017-13 Fosters Australia, Asia & Pacific
It's the VB Sweat ad.. It talks about sweat and VB.
Dismissed Alcohol 30/01/2013
January 2014
Case number Ad Standards description Determination Category Mediasort descending Determination date
0002-14 Female Choice Plumbing
Female Choice Plumbing.
Dismissed Professional Services 15/01/2014
0006-14 Rugs a Million
An actor dressed as Austin Powers saying he " got a SHAG for $60" and a woman saying that she also got a SHAG for sixty dollars. The voice over continues to say "sixty dollars" but is interspersed with the words SEXTY dollars.
Dismissed House Goods Services 15/01/2014
0007-14 Rugs a Million
End of year sale on carpets at Rugs-a-million. ie. Boxing week sales. A woman presenter states that "size does matter."
Dismissed House Goods Services 15/01/2014
January 2013
Case number Ad Standards description Determination Category Mediasort descending Determination date
0003-13 Radio Rentals Group
RT Edwards - "Japanese/Karate Chop" stereotype.
Dismissed House Goods Services 16/01/2013
0004-13 Freedom Furniture Ltd
The ad is for freedom furniture, an older man is looking out a window at what appears to be at a young couple that are heavily making out. Then his wife comes over and he tells her he is looking at a lounge then as the young couple move to the rug they look at the rug.. The young couple is now half naked and getting ready to have intercourse.
Dismissed Retail 16/01/2013
February 2012
Case number Ad Standards description Determination Category Mediasort descending Determination date
0004-12 Motor Accident Commission SA
Two people kissing in the back seat of a taxi. Male looks alarmed as fare metre approaches $300. On screen super delivers the campaign message: “Lose your licence and you’re screwed”
Dismissed Community Awareness 08/02/2012
0006-12 Yokohama Tyres Aust Pty Ltd
The advertisement uses a large warehouse full of tyres to describe how confusing it is to choose tyres. The three Yokohama products presented use brightly coloured point of sale tyre centres to execute this strategy as it is explained by the voice over “If you want a long lasting everyday tyre, choose green. For extra safety, choose blue. And for high performance choose red.” The tyres roll out in front of the talent and he bends down to look at them. The call to action is to “Ask your tyre dealer about Yokohama, the easiest tyres to choose”.
Dismissed Retail 08/02/2012
0007-12 Leading Edge Telecoms
The advertisement opens with a close up of a woman’s chest. She is wearing a white t-shirt with the words, “Do you know where your assets are?” emblazoned across the front. The camera pans out and we see the woman is standing next to a blue ute with the words, “Leading Edge Telecoms” written on the side. A male voice over talks about how the Navman Wireless asset tracker can help cut costs.
Upheld - Modified or Discontinued Telecommunications 08/02/2012
0010-12 Compare Insurance
Insurance geek extraordinaire character ‘Eugene’, heads off on holiday without travel insurance. He is featured in various holiday scenarios being menaced by a big guy representing ‘Big Risk’ – holidaying without travel insurance. Eugene cuts risk down to size in a comical Benny Hill way by chasing him across a field with a chainsaw. The same holiday scenarios are then featured as a more pleasurable holiday experience with a smaller guy representing ‘Little Risk’ – holidaying with travel insurance.
Upheld - Modified or Discontinued Insurance 08/02/2012
0012-12 ACP Publishing Pty Ltd
A woman picks up a copy of Cosmopolitan magazine from the side of the pool and in the process falls into the water. This is followed by a series of page shots of the magazine displaying specific features from the magazine with a voice over describing these features.
Dismissed Media 08/02/2012
0016-12 Mars Food Australia
Scenes of puppets are shown with Mama in the kitchen passing on secret family recipes to 'Sophia'. Mama uses one of the flavour sachets in the recipe book to provide a new and different meal for the family.
Dismissed Food/Bev Groceries 08/02/2012
0017-12 Hewlett-Packard Australia Pty Ltd
A man wakes to noises in his house and goes down stairs to investigate. He finds two of his friends watch a scary movie. They are all frightened by the life-like quality of a zombie-like character that appears on the screen during the movie.
Dismissed Information Technology 08/02/2012
0022-12 Ripley's Odditorium
The advertisment shows scenes from the venue with people of various ages looking at the exhibits and participating in the interactive parts of the venue also. There are very brief visuals of the shrunken heads mentioned and the voiceover decribes these as well.
Dismissed Entertainment 08/02/2012
0023-12 McDonald's Aust Ltd
A boy and girl are eating McDonald's Happy Meals in a McDonald's restaurant, while the chipmunks play tricks in the background. Using the opportunity of distraction, the girl steals her brother's apple slice while he is busy looking over his shoulder to see the chipmunks.
Dismissed Food/Bev Groceries 08/02/2012
0025-12 Pilot Pen Australia Pty Ltd
A man is following a hand written recipe for soup. The work ‘leek’ is misspelled ‘leak’. The man unzips his trousers and through sound effects we are lead to understand that he is urinating in the soup whilst wondering how his grandmother managed this. The voiceover says ‘Fix it with Frixion’ and we are shown how the word ‘leak’ is erased and replaced with ‘leek’.
Dismissed Other 08/02/2012
0030-12 Chrysler Australia Pty Ltd
A dog is jealous of its owners' new partner so when she goes for a run the dog dresses in her lingerie then climbs in to bed with the boyfriend. When the woman returns she sees her boyfriend in bed with her lingerie-clad dog and in the next scene the man is nowhere to be seen as the woman and dog take a drive through some woods.
Dismissed Vehicle 08/02/2012
January 2014
Case number Ad Standards description Determination Category Mediasort descending Determination date
0008-14 Pacific Equity Partners
Various scenes of people apparently enjoying themselves in the sun. Many people appear sunburnt.Ad is set to "anthem" sounding music - most likely "Ode to Joy". In the final scenes rows of people are portrayed biting in unison into Drumsticks ice creams.
Dismissed Food/Bev Groceries 29/01/2014
0009-14 Fosters Australia, Asia & Pacific
Men are shown drinking VB while operating machinery e.g. lawn mower, electric hand tools.
Dismissed Alcohol 29/01/2014
0011-14 RAA of South Australia
Actor George Kapiniaris is seen in the advertisment attending a funeral.
Dismissed Insurance 29/01/2014
0012-14 Sony Music Entertainment Australia Ltd
Beyonce's new album includes sexually suggestive images of Beyonce.
Dismissed Entertainment 29/01/2014
0016-14 Expedia
Expedia has been running a series of advertisements to use them as a booking agent for overseas destinations. The one I am complaining about shows a solitary bonsai plant sitting on a vacant desk in an unkept condition as the owner of the plant has gone overseas on holidays
Dismissed Travel 29/01/2014
January 2014
Case number Ad Standards description Determination Category Mediasort descending Determination date
0014-14 Meat & Livestock Australia Ltd
Sam Kekovich and his Lambassador 2014 ad.
Dismissed Food/Bev Groceries 24/01/2014
February 2014
Case number Ad Standards description Determination Category Mediasort descending Determination date
0017-14 Ozkleen
Advert describes how it's oven cleaning product is so simple that even the man of the house can use it.
Dismissed Toiletries 12/02/2014
0019-14 Gold Coast Tata
Man or two caucasian men sitting in a white car/ute with two caucasian women dressed in indian saris standing by the car.
Dismissed Vehicle 12/02/2014
0022-14 Johnson & Johnson Pacific Pty Ltd
Ad for Nicorette depicting people smoking.
Dismissed Health Products 12/02/2014
0025-14 Coles
Coles ad for chicken that is free range hosted by Curtis Stone.
Dismissed Food/Bev Groceries 12/02/2014
February 2013
Case number Ad Standards description Determination Category Mediasort descending Determination date
0022-13 Pacific Brands Holdings Pty Ltd
The advertisment shows scenes of women bouncing on exercise balls in order to show the effective support offered by the Berlei sports bra.
Dismissed Clothing 13/02/2013
February 2012
Case number Ad Standards description Determination Category Mediasort descending Determination date
0031-12 Intellectual Property Awareness Foundation
The IAPF 'Excuses' advertisement illustrates in quick, light-hearted, comedic scenes a cross section of Australians expressing their excuses for personally participating in movie and TV theft.
Dismissed Community Awareness 22/02/2012

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