The ad watchdog has thrown out complaints a TV spot from car manufacturer Great Wall Australia animalises and demeans males.
The ad depicts a man literally “in the dog house” after a fight with his wife as he has purchased an expensive four-wheel drive when he could have bought one from Great Wall for less than $24,000.
The man in the ad is shown crouched in a dog kennel, sparking complaints to the Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) that the ad “shows a male as being at the same level as an animal” and “would create outrage” if the protagonist were female.
“This scenario is totally inappropriate and demeans males or any human being,” a complainant wrote. “It is unacceptable for any person to be shown in this light with a pronounced wedding ring and blatantly tries to lower the mental and social standard of males as third-class humans and that this treatment and perception of males is acceptable and even normal behaviour. Outrageous.”
The manufacturer of Great Wall, Ateco Automotive Pty Ltd, argued the ad was all in “light-hearted humour” and does not “vilify or demean the male gender”.
Ateco wrote: “We consider that the use of the term 'doghouse' and the exaggerated vision of a man in the 'doghouse' seek to humorously illustrate the repercussions to a consumer who has not identified the great value in our Great Wall X240 vehicle and instead purchased a competitor’s product at a higher price.”
The company added all its TVCs ran in a “similar” vein of “humor, hyperbole and exaggeration”.
The ASB wrote: “the advertisement did not depict material that discriminated against or vilified any person or section of society”.
It was ruled the ad was not in breach of any advertising standards.
“The Board noted the overall humorous tone of the advertisement as well as the man’s reaction to being in the doghouse and considered that the advertisement does not suggest that the man is equal to a dog or that men in general should be treated as dogs,” the ASB wrote in its ruling.
The ad continues to air unaltered and can be viewed here.
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