Surf brand spanked for filthy language
An 80s ad remake featuring beer and profanity hits a speed bump.
Surf label Quiksilver has been slammed by the Advertising Standards Authority for profanity used in a website advertisement.
The ad featured text that read, “If you can’t rock ‘n’ roll, don’t f**ken [sic] come”.
Although the ad is Australian, users were directed to the site through www.quiksilver.co.nz.
A complainant said the foul language is “unacceptable”, particularly as the brand is well-known among youth in New Zealand.
The advertisement was a recreation of an old 1980s Quiksilver ad that appeared across Australasia, surprisingly without complaint at the time.
It showed famous surfers clad in Quiksilver clothes, downing beer and standing on an old car with the above text.
A Quiksilver spokesperson told the ASA in a statement that the tagline was one of “irreverence” that “resonated with surfers and reflected the brand’s ethos”.
“The statement has been used several times since, and we believe that a significant portion of Quiksiiver's consumers associate the statement with Quiksilver and as such it has become a part of our ‘DNA’.”
Quiksilver took action by temporarily removing the ad from the site and making plans to asterisk the offending word.
However, the Complaints Board upheld the complaint, saying the brand appealed to under-18s and that the move to add in asterisks would not suffice to alter the meaning of the term.
The relevant page now reads, “Don’t miss out, sign up now”.
Hazel Phillips
Wed, 19 Jan 2011
Wed, 19 Jan 2011
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Surf brand spanked for filthy language
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