In a record few months, 2018 has produced two of the most complained about advertisements in Ad Standards’ 20-year history, with Sportsbet and iSelect both being slapped with bans from the industry watchdog.
Ad Standards took the opportunity to reveal its top 10 most complained ads from the last two decades.
Coming in at number one was an ad that many would remember, mainly because it aired only two months ago.
The infamous Sportsbet 'manscaping' ad, which depicted a man apparently shaving his genitals was banned after Ad Standards received close to 800 complaints about ad.
In the ad, a man is seen naked from the waist up and appears to be manscaping. A voiceover then yells loudly, causing the man to slip and hurt himself with the razor.
The panel deemed that the ad breached section 2.4 of the AANA Code of Ethics and the complaints were upheld. This is not the first time Sportsbet has been slapped with a ban. In 2017, the company drew ire from the watchdog for an ad featuring drug cheat Ben Johnson, which was deemed to be promoting steriod use.
iSelect came in second with 715 complaints with its 2018 ad depicting a mother showing her frustrations with her current finances by violently destroying a piñata at a children's birthday party.
Complaints were raised around gender bias and vilification, as well as violent towards animals that could cause children distress.
The complaints were upheld, with the watchdog deeming the ad breached prevailing community standards on health and safety and breached Section 2.6 of the code.
Ashley Madison, better known for its data breach in 2015, came under fire a year prior with a musical ad that depicted two men singing about looking for "someone other than my wife." Much like iSelect, the ad was labelled sexist and degrading to women.
One complaint read: "Advertising of the disgraceful act of cheating on your marriage partner is disgusting and should not be condoned on television or anywhere else for that matter men are singing about looking for someone other than their wives." Despite the 643 complaints, the panel found that the ad did not breach the code and the case was dismissed.
Ultra Tune took out the fourth and fifth spots on this list, the first showed two women use a fire extinguisher to put out a car fire. This was dismissed after drawing 421 complaints.
The fifth was the well known "We're into rubber" ad, which showed the same two women declaring that they are “into rubber” while fully clad in bodysuits. This was dismissed following 419 complaints.
The remaining five included:
Meat and Livestock Australia - Lee Lin Chin organising ‘Operation Boomerang’ to rescue Australians overseas so they can eat lamb on Australia Day. Dismissed. Number of complaints: 376
Nandos - A woman is seen pole dancing and using Nandos chewing gum. Dismissed. Number of complaints: 359
YouFoodz - young boy describes a meal as “unforkin-believable”.
Upheld. Number of complaints: 307
Neds - A man excuses himself from dinner to listen to a telemarketer while using the Neds app on his phone. Dismissed. Number of complaints: 303
Stuart Alexander (Mentos) - A man’s nipples get longer and he walks around town using them to do various things. Dismissed. Number of complaints: 283
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