ASA Adjudication on Must Have Ltd t/a VIP Electronic Cigarette
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received more than 1,000 complaints about two commercials for e-cigarettes featuring a man and a woman, respectively, making reference to oral sex. The ASA found that the ads were sexually provocative and should have been aired only after 11 pm rather than allowed to air after 9 pm. In the future, the ASA ordered the company not to broadcast the ads before 11 pm and to ensure that the ads were not likely to cause serious or widespread offence. The ASA did not uphold other complaints about the ads, finding that the ads were not likely to be viewed as degrading or exploiting women, did not encourage smoking or the harmful use of nicotine products, did not promote the product to young viewers, and made clear that the product contained nicotine.
ASA Adjudication on Must Have Ltd, Complaint Ref: A13-249268 (2014).
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"The ASA acknowledged the complainants' concerns that the presentation of the ads included implied references to oral sex. We noted the ads contained no explicit sexual imagery and concluded by revealing that the commentary related to an e-cigarette.
However, we considered the sexually provocative presentation of the male and female characters in conjunction with a graphic description of oral sex was likely to cause serious and widespread offence to viewers who viewed ads (a) and (c) during normal evening viewing. We acknowledged the post-21:00 timing restriction would reduce the risk of younger children seeing ads (a) and (c), but because of the references to oral sex, we considered a post-21:00 timing restriction was not sufficient to avoid offending viewers and that a post-23:00 timing restriction should have been applied. On that basis, we concluded that ads (a) and (c) breached the Code."
Limitations regarding the use of quotes The quotes provided here reflect statements from a specific decision. Accordingly, the International Legal Consortium (ILC) cannot guarantee that an appellate court has not reversed a lower court decision which may influence the applicability or influence of a given quote. All quotes have been selected based on the subjective evaluations undertaken by the ILC meaning that quotes provided here may not accurately or comprehensively represent a given court’s opinion or conclusion, as such quotes may have originally appeared alongside other negative opinions or accompanying facts. Further, some quotes are derived from unofficial English translations, which may alter their original meaning. We emphasize the need to review the original decision and related decisions before authoritatively relying on quotes. Using quotes provided here should not be construed as legal advice and is not intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter in any jurisdiction. Please see the full limitations at https://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/about.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received more than 1,000 complaints about two commercials for e-cigarettes featuring a man and a woman, respectively, making reference to oral sex. The ASA found that the ads were sexually provocative and should have been aired only after 11 pm rather than allowed to air after 9 pm. In the future, the ASA ordered the company not to broadcast the ads before 11 pm and to ensure that the ads were not likely to cause serious or widespread offence. The ASA did not uphold other complaints about the ads, finding that the ads were not likely to be viewed as degrading or exploiting women, did not encourage smoking or the harmful use of nicotine products, did not promote the product to young viewers, and made clear that the product contained nicotine.