‘Hot’ lines find themselves in hot water
22 May 2006
Question: When is a premium-rate sex service not a sex service?
Answer: When it is a premium-rate chat service promoted as a sex service!
OK, it’s not funny but that’s the conclusion the ASA came to when it judged an ad for ‘Live Lines 1-2-1’ premium rate chat service was misleading. That adjudication and others in recent times provide two valuable lessons for advertisers in this sector.
Firstly, don’t misrepresent the nature of your service. Regular phone chat services are acceptable on TV. But if ads for those services invite the audience to “get it on with one of our selection of eager babes” and show a woman wearing only a pink top and black frilly knickers, lightly touching her body, it’s likely that a viewer may be compelled to chat about more than just their job or where they’re going on holiday.
That viewer might feel, with good reason, that they’re being invited to talk about sexual matters! Those who accept that invitation will be disappointed if all they get to talk to the ‘eager babe’ about is stamp collecting and the weather. Furthermore, those who decline might be seriously offended by the unbidden invitation in the first place.
In recognition of the latter group, the Code consigns the advertising of premium rate sex services to encrypted elements of adult channels only. That ensures a suitable audience for premium rate voice and SMS services of a sexual nature.
But advertisers in this sector should not feel that the advertising code is arbitrarily targeting them on the issue of misleadingness. All advertisers must avoid any ambiguity in their marketing messages which could cause confusion amongst consumers. When KFC argued that their ad for Mini Fillet Burgers did not mislead about the actual size of the burger because the woman featured holding one had small hands, which made the burger appear bigger than it actually was, the ASA did not agree. Finding an ad for a premium chat service misleading because it implies the service is of a sexual nature when it is not, is exactly the same issue.
Secondly, don’t assume that using a prefix other than 0909, 0908, 69 and 89 (i.e. numbers designated for adult services) necessarily precludes your ads from being suitable only for broadcast on encrypted elements of adult channels. An 0906 service advertised with a sexual theme and shown on an unencrypted channel is likely to mislead. But if the service delivers what the ad suggests, it can only be shown on an adult channel and pssssssst, a word in your shell-like……. ICSTIS won’t be happy that you’re using a non-adult prefix!
So, in summary, the message is clear and simple - appropriately moderate the content of your ads for premium rate chat services to ensure that they don’t misrepresent the true nature of the service and if it’s sex you’re selling, sell it on an adult channel.
Click below to read the adjudications.
Live Lines
Channel U