Viewers find fault with O&M Lucozade spots

Complaints report from The Independent Television Commission.

The ad features Sandra and Tracey, based on the Fat Slags from Viz,

watching a male strip show called the Full Mountie. Bottles of

Low-Calorie Lucozade are strategically placed to spare the strippers’

blushes, and one stripper explains the drink ’helps me stay firm where

it counts’.

Viewers said the ad contained an unacceptable level of sexual innuendo

for pre-watershed viewing, while some felt the ad should not have been

allowed on air at all. A number of complainants felt the commercial was

offensive to overweight women, and one male viewer complained that the

male strippers were offensive to men.

However, the ITC decided that, while the ad might not be to everyone’s

taste, the level of innuendo and nudity did not warrant greater

restrictions on timing.

Another of O&M’s ads for Lucozade did not escape censure, however, after

22 viewers complained that the ad contained the word ’bollocks’. The ad

shows a group of mods on scooters and, as a train passes, one character

is heard saying ’bollocks’.

The ITC said recent research showed 70 per cent of the population regard

this word as one of the stronger swear words, and so the commission

upheld the complaints and asked for the word to be removed.

Another O&M ad, this time for Impulse, also caused offence. The ITC

received complaints from 29 viewers, about the depiction of

homosexuality in the ad, which shows two men - obviously lovers -

walking arm-in-arm. Others felt the ad should be subjected to stricter

time restrictions.

However, the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre had cleared the ad

for showing after 7.30pm and the ITC felt was this was sufficient

regulation.

Euro RSCG Wnek Gosper’s ad for the Peugeot 106, showing two women lost

in the jungle, was felt by some viewers to show racist and outdated

images of black people, but the ITC did not believe the ad was seriously

objectionable.