Extra-marital dating site Ashley Madison has agreed to pull its latest TV advert, following a spate of complaints to the Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) for it being “highly immoral” and “sleazy”.
The ad shows a group of men singing the jingle “Looking for someone other than my wife” to the tune of 1976 song "Couldn't Get it Right" by the Climax Blues Band.
The ad was the most complained about ad of 2014, according the ASB. However, the watchdog noted that all complaints about the ad had been dismissed last year, for objecting to the service being advertised rather than the content of the advertisement.
The latest complaints included a number of concerns around the moral implications of the Ashley Madison service.
One noted: “An advertisement for cheating on one's spouse being a good thing is immoral and wrong. I believe that advertising the fact that someone can cheat on their husband or wife online does not belong on television, or on any media outlet. It's sad to think that things like this are actually allowed to be shown on TV - no matter what time it's on.”
Another said: “This advertisement has the potential to destroy families and break up marriages. It should not be allowed on TV no matter what time of day it is. It gives the idea that your wife is boring and to look elsewhere.”
However, in its latest determination, the ASB upheld the complaints against the advert on the grounds of being “discriminatory to or vilifying of women”.
The ASB board noted that it had previously considered the advertisement and dismissed complaints, but that “during the six-month period since that decision the ASB has received an unusually high number of additional complaints and during that time has recruited a number of new board members”.
“The board agreed to consider afresh whether or not the advertisement met the requirements of the AANA Code of Ethics.”
It found that the use of the phrase “other than my wife” singles out wives as a group of people and “implies that wives are not important within a marriage”.
“The majority of the board however considered that the emphasis on the term ‘wife’ gave a strong message that ‘wives’ are inadequate or somehow lacking and that this suggestion is degrading to wives and does amount to material that demeans or makes people think less of wives,” the ASB said in its determination.
In response, Avid, the company who owns Ashley Madison, said it would pull the ad in response to the determination.
“Avid strives to work co-operatively and collaboratively with the board,” Avid said.
“While we don’t agree with the recent decision, we respect the board’s decision and will abide by it. We have decided to pull the ad and replace it with a different advertisement (which we believe will not receive nearly the same frequency of complaints).”
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