back to article Watchdog mauls Disney woman's breasts

The Advertising Standards Authority has kicked into touch an online ad for Disney flick Adventureland, which encouraged Yahoo! users to whip off a woman's shirt with a click of the mouse. The ASA explains: An internet ad for the cinema release of the film Adventureland showed the torso of a woman wearing a white T-shirt with …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. gerryg

    I think this was the issue...

    Let's watch Dsiney not "getting it"

    Disney defended that it "believed that the ad was not offensive and that the image of the woman lifting her top should be viewed in the context of the film trailer and the medium in which it was made available to the public", adding that "ads featuring womens' breasts were fairly common".

    Disney don't seem to understand that it's only by complaining about something that challenges it as being the norm.

    I don't think wearing dangy earrings is a pre-requisite to thinking the complainants might be right.

  2. irish donkey
    Thumb Up

    Why no pictures

    to illustrate the point. How can I get offended if I can see the funbags?

  3. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    Seriously?

    "attracted one complaint."

    A single complaint from how may millions of users and the ad gets pulled. Exactly WTF is going on here?

    1. Cliff

      That's just how it works

      What's the option? Set a minimum number of people who have to complain before an ad is investigated? Or a lower percentage? Should we do the same with muggings!?

      No, one person complained, so the ASA *investigated* then the ASA *adjudicated*. The number of complainants is irrelevant - if an advert is in breach of the code, it's in breach of the code. The complainant is just the person who draws it to the ASA's attention to investigate.

      That's just how it works.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Thumb Down

        If *one* person complains...

        ...the odds are it's a crank. If a thousand people complain, there might be something to it. Or it's a campaign by Moral Minority, more likely. Hence one complaint shouldn't cause anything to happen.

        I think I'll start complaining about each and every ad I see. Could clean up the landscape quite nicely. Alternatively it'll gag ASA so they won't cause any more damage for the foreseeable future.

    2. Marvin the Martian
      Thumb Up

      What else?

      It's not like I'd have heard of the film otherwise, so this complaint is commercially very useful to Disney [but then again, I won't watch it anyway except if paid substantially].

  4. Klaus
    FAIL

    USA the land of the?

    But a tv ad encouraging a user to pump somebody/thing full of bullet holes would of course be OK.

    American = Prude

    1. Swarthy
      WTF?

      Ermmm...

      The US doesn't have an ASA, that's a UK institution.

      Yes, the USA is prudish but that's because *somebody* sent the roundheads over here to get rid of them, and they wound up in power. Couldn't you at least sent them over on a leaky boat?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Pirate

        certainly

        native americans would have thanked you!

    2. Steven Knox
      WTF?

      Yes indeedy

      The USA is apparently so prudish that it forced the UK's ASA to ban the ad. Well read, Klaus.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Thumb Down

      bashing wrong country

      While I fully agree that the prudes control way too much of what goes on in the US, I would like to point out to Klaus that the ASA is a UK censorship body. It's declarations have nothing to do with the US being full of prudes. As a matter of fact, I don't believe the advertisement could be banned in the US - freedom of speech and all that, you know.

      1. Deadlock Victim
        Badgers

        Prudes

        You have to remember that the US was founded by uptight Protestants who were so uptight that they had to leave their homes and go to "The New World" to practice their uptightness. These same Uptight Protestants used guns to "defend" themselves from the local wildlife and native population. Assault rifles? Yes! Boobs? Hell no, that's immoral.

      2. John 104

        Doh!

        Pwoned!

      3. Blain Hamon
        Big Brother

        What's an ASA?

        In the states, were it on TV, during prime time, broadcast, maybe it could be banned, due to the FCC. Online, or on cable, all bets are off.

  5. Svantevid
    Happy

    Another airbag story, Lester?

    I think I can see the pattern... Wednesday is reserved boobs, Friday for Playmobil.

    Not that I complain. We could use more boobs, though.

    With apology to Moderatrix, if she gets offended by my immaturity... we men are simple creatures. When we're young, we like to play with Lego/Playmobil. When we're older, we like to play with boobs. Give us both (*), we're happy.

    (*) as long as we don't get Playmobil boobs.

  6. Niall 1

    Redo the Ad

    so the women is naked and users must drag and drop clothes on to her.

  7. OFI
    Thumb Up

    Ad?

    So... why can I find this genius ad? :-D

  8. Chika
    Coat

    Mummy! Why are you so upset?

    Or should I have said "Nanny"? Sorry, but it's the state I'm in right now...

  9. Andy ORourke
    FAIL

    Get a grip FFS

    In fact, a black rectangle covered the offending mams, but the animation **** attracted one complaint ****. It suggested that "the ad was offensive because it encouraged users to lift the woman's shirt in a voyeuristic manner" and "the ad was inappropriately located on the Yahoo! news page where it could easily be seen by children".

    My **** for emphasis, ONE complaint (until the daily fail readers hear about it and then demand their right to be outraged and complain!)

    To the complainant : You do know that unless you are supervising your little darling every minute of every day they will see things you wont like them to see, hell, they'll probably actively seek it out :-)

  10. IR
    WTF?

    Title

    Some people have far too much time on their hands.

    1. IR

      To correct my previous post

      ONE person has too much time on their hands.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    What a joke.

    'the animation attracted one complaint'

    ONE?!? One idiot complains and that is enough to get something banned??

    'a black rectangle covered the offending mams'

    ...unlike on say for example page 3 of the Sun, which can be bought by anyone of any age.

    Just. Plain. Retarded.

    That is all.

  12. N2

    Christmas comes early!

    If theres a God in heaven itll be on the tube by tonight!

    hopefully

  13. John Macintyre
    WTF?

    "but the animation attracted one complaint."

    er.. what? They banned an add viewed by thousands of people because one loser who can't get any complained? WTF? If he/she is so offended, unplug the computer and go live in a swamp

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    What do Disney think

    happens to men at 35? Cos it didn't happen to me. Just sayin'

  15. Steve 72

    Or as is often the case

    Disney marketing started the whole thing to generate exactly what you have here.

  16. Valerion
    Happy

    One complaint is enough?

    Excellent, who do I complain to about Gordon Brown? One complaint should be enough to have him removed too.

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    Disney - 'nuff said

    I'm not surprised. Disney constantly peddle filth. I mean. look at Snow White - looks like butter wouldn't melt but we ALL know what happens when the sun goes down (along with Happy, Sneezy and Doc). Dirty little trollope, that one.

    AND just take a look at Arial "Slapper" Mermaid. Even that big evil witch thing referred to her as a tramp. Little strumpet waving her bare legs around like I don't know what! Why, it's enough to make you go out and buy the DVD and fast-forward to all the juicy bits... er...

    Mine's the one with the kleenex in the poc... shit! Too late!

  18. LaeMi Qian

    USA solves global warming.

    That generator on Ol' Walter's grave must be pumping out gigawatts by now!

  19. Oninoshiko
    Paris Hilton

    irony

    wait, is this the same company that got mad about a alcohol company implying a little somethin-somthin going on with a certain young lady and about 7 men of "small stature?"

    paris, there more reasons then I can even list -_-

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Awesome

    The entire marketing team for this film should be fired. It's marketed as being the next superbad/ american pie.

    It really, really isn't. It's one of the best films of the year- but just marketed at the wrong kind of people.

    see- the ad.

  21. Sceptical Bastard

    Oh FFS

    I know, I know. Everybody's already said it. But indulge me, Sarah, before the steam from my ears boils my hair grey.*

    ONE uptight dipstick complains about an ad that requires a user action to reveal a BLACK RECTANGLE and the ASA pull it?

    Nut? Sledgehammer?

    * I lied about having any hair left.

    1. Richard 81

      Ehem

      May I refer the right honourable Sceptical Bastard, and indeed anyone who thinks one complaint to get an add pulled is ridiculous, to the post made by one Cliff on Wednesday 16th December 2009 at 20:16 GMT.

      He stated, quite correctly, that the number of complaints is irrelevant and that the only thing that matters is the ASA's judgement. If they decide the ad breaches their codes, then they pull it, end of story. In this case the ASA happened to agree with the one and only complaint they recieved. If, on the other hand, a thousand people complained and the ASA decided that the ad was not in breach of code, then the ad would have been left alone.

      Rules is rules.

  22. Mike Echo

    Lester, Lester, Lester

    When I saw the article's RSS feed title I placed a bet with myself that it would have to be one of Lester's fine efforts. Now I owe myself twenty dollars, damn you Lester.

  23. Elmer Phud

    Nothing new

    Di$ney has been punting pics of happy beavers for ages.

  24. Znort666

    So let me get this straight...

    Someone complains about the Ad and the ASA agree with the complaint citing clause with the explanation:

    "because users were encouraged to take action to remove the woman's top in order to see her breasts,"

    maybe a way around this would have been for them to send out X-ray specs to those that asked, cos I see no other way of seeing a womans breasts unless

    1) I remove her top

    2) She removes her top

    3) She doesn't wear a top at all...

    How inanely stupid are some people??? Does this complainant think that a kid using a mouse on his PC to pull up a top to see a black rectangle will then go out and try this in the street, cos it gives him/her a hunger for black rectangle viewing??? It's not as if he is being encouraged to use his hands to do this, it's just a load of moving pixels on a screen.

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    (untitled)

    I get really offended at people getting really offended over nothing.

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like