A pay TV ad for the Walt Disney movie Deadpool & Wolverine has been removed for breaching language codes.
The ad appeared on the Foxtel-owned streaming service Kayo, during an AFL game late afternoon, but the advertiser claims it purchased an advertising package targeting viewers that were 18 years or older.
The ad's characters say "let's fucking go" and "get the fuck off me", which a complainant told Ad Standards was offensive for that broadcast time.
"High level language with several F words used during the ad. It was played at half time on an afl game which families including children watch. 5:50 in the afternoon," the complaint stated.
However, Walt Disney said it had provided media outlets with two versions of ads.
One an edited "safe" version and the original version which features adult language consistent with the film.
Which gives advertisers an option to ensure that mature content is not played to younger audiences and scheduled appropriately according to the platform’s processes.
"When engaging with Kayo, Disney purchased an advertising package for the film that was stated as targeting viewers that were 18 years or older," a Disney spokesperson said.
"Consequently, Disney had good reason to understand that the adult version of the advertisement would only be played out on Kayo to an audience that was over 18 years of age.
"Unfortunately, despite Disney taking reasonable steps to ensure mature content was only available to an adult audience, the original advertisement may have been viewed by a broader audience on Kayo.
"This version of the advertisement is no longer showing on Kayo, and we are reviewing the processes we have in place with Kayo so that our advertisements are appropriately placed in future."
The Ad Standards panel noted that Kayo does not appear to have a parental control setting or any option to indicate that children are watching with a parent on the parent’s account.
AFL is a popular sport among both adults and children, and it would be reasonable to assume that children would be watching live AFL games streamed through the app, with or without their parents present.
The panel also considered that adults watching the AFL may also find strong language confronting and inappropriate, and would not be expecting such language in advertising when watching live sport.
As a result, the advertisement breached AANA's Code of Ethics\2.5 Language and the ad was removed.
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