Most complained about ads of 2005
26 April 2006
Nearly one in five of all the complaints lodged with the ASA in 2005 concerned the ads featured in the top 10 list of most complained about ads. Of these, one-third related to KFC's TV ad featuring call centre workers singing with their mouths full, racking up a total of 1,671 - making it the most complained about ad ever. Most complainants objected to the ad because they said it encouraged bad manners in children. However, the ASA did not agree and reasoned that it takes time to instill good manners in children and that this TV ad would not adversely affect their behaviour in the long-term.
Encouraging bad manners in children was also the reason that another TV commercial, for soft drink Fanta Z, was the ninth most complained about ad of 2005. In this case the complaint against the ad, which depicted people spitting Fanta out after taking a swig, was upheld. The ASA concluded that the likelihood of children copying what they had seen was high, and that the ad should only go on air after the 9pm watershed.
After KFC, the four next most complained about ads all resulted in a not upheld decision. These were for Living TV's poster promotion of programme The L Word (650 complaints), Unilever's TV ad for Pot Noodle that featured a man with a brass horn down his trousers (620 complaints), a Mazda TV and cinema ad showing a mannequin getting aroused during a car journey (425 complaints) and Ryanair's national press campaign encouraging visitors to London that appeared eight days after the London tube bombings (319 complaints).
The most complained about ad to receive an 'upheld' adjudication from the ASA Council was Jamster's high profile TV campaign, featuring the cartoon character "Crazy Frog", accompanied by a catchy jingle. The ad promoted realtones, video ring-tones, screensavers, games and mobile phone software, but 298 complainants objected that the offer was not clear and that children were unwittingly signing up to a subscription service. The ASA agreed, and ordered a 9pm restriction on the ad.
There are only four non-broadcast ads in the top ten rankings this year. As well as the Living TV and Ryanair campaigns, two mailings also attracted a large number of complaints. . The eighth most complained about ad was a mailing for Damart underwear, which distressed some recipients because it appeared to suggest they were in debt. The other, in tenth place, is a mailing for Channel Five's programme CSI:NY, which was also deemed distressing in its guise as the dossier of a real-life serial murderer with a penchant for victims bearing the same name as the mailing's recipient. In both cases, the complaints were upheld.
The seventh most complained about ad was a Barclays TV ad showing a man suffering an allergic reaction to an insect sting. It drew 293 complaints that it was offensive to those who suffered such adverse reactions and those complaints were upheld.