A Foxtel advertisement has been discontinued due to promoting negative stereotypes towards people who wear glasses as being less attractive or socially awkward.
The 15 second advertisement forms part of a broader Foxtel campaign - 'Speedy Stories' - which parodies a range of entertainment tropes. The campaign was developed to tie Foxtel Broadband to the concept of speed, by creating radically sped up stories.
Intended as a 'humorous satire of romantic comedy tropes', the advertisement shows two females as a young man walks by. One of the friends comments that he "doesn't even know [she] exist[s]" at which point the second female removes her glasses and unties her hair in one quick movement.
Almost immediately, the young man appears next to the females and asks, "What's up?" The advertisement concludes with the young woman and young man walking together holding hands.
The Advertisement was produced internally by Foxtel Creative and was scheduled during the Geelong v Collingwood AFL game on Fox Footy on 17 March 2023.
Screenshots from the ad via Ad Standards.
The complaint submitted to Ad Standards:
"I feel it doesn’t set a good example for girls or boys who have to wear glasses. It’s saying that you can’t get a boy or girl if you wear glasses.
"It implies that people are more attractive if they do not wear glasses. It infers that like the old saying 'men never make passes at girls who wear glasses'. We tell girls that looks don't matter, then show an ad like this one."
In response, Foxtel denied the ad breaching any part of Section 2.6 AANA Code of Ethics for discrimination or vilification.
The Ad Standards Community Panel said that while the tone of the advertisement was light-hearted, the portrayal of someone with a disability, for the purposes of humour, suggests that such conditions are humorous and the people open to ridicule.
The Panel also said that the depiction of a person being seen as more attractive when their glasses are removed is a depiction which shows people with a disability receiving less favourable treatment.
The advertisement was found to have breached Section 2.1 of the Code and the ad was discontinued.
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