An audio ad from grocery delivery start-up Milkrun has been removed for its offensive language.
Milkrun is famous for its tongue-in-cheek advertising, but often this tone of voice gets the company in hot water from both consumers and industry regulators.
For example, the brand made a name for itself by offering ‘bags’ to the people of Bondi, and recently ABAC ordered Milkrun to remove some social media posts as it breached two codes encouraging excessive consumption of alcohol.
In its latest risky campaign, the company’s audio ad raised concerns about the use of offensive language after the voiceover artist introduces herself as being from the podcast 'Do You F*cking Mind'.
The complaint to Ad Standards stated: “This podcast uses the F word in the ad for Milk run twice. There is no warning + this is offensive. Is it okay to broadcast this?”
In rebuttal, Milkrun said: “The swear word was used by the host of the “Do you F*cking Mind" podcast when referencing the name of her own podcast.
“We apologise for any offence caused however we respectfully suggest the complaint be directed to the producers of the ‘Do you F*cking Mind’ podcast as Milkrun does not have any control over the dissemination of the podcast.
“We confirm that Milkrun will not be partnering with this podcast in the future and please take this letter as confirmation that the advertisement will not be re-broadcast or re-published at a later date.”
In the determination, The Ad Standards Community Panel considered whether this advertisement breaches Section 2 of the AANA Code of Ethics. The Panel noted the complainant’s concern that the language is offensive.
However, the Community Panel considered that the ad was not for the podcast, but for the grocery delivery service, and as such the use of the swearing was irrelevant and unnecessary.
The Panel considered that the language could have easily been beeped out, or the f-word could have been replaced with the word “effing”.
As a result, the advertisement was found to breach Section 2.5 of the Code. Conclusion Finding that the advertisement breached Section 2.5 of the Code and the Panel upheld the complaint.
The advertisement was discontinued on the 31st August and will not be broadcast again.
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