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EARNINGS
The telco soon to be known as Spark has been told by the Advertising Standards Authority to kill a TV commercial.
A recently released ASA decision says Telecom’s ad for music streaming service Spotify shows a man throwing a TV off a balcony. The ad was created by Saatchi & Saatchi and was part of a series of ads featuring a man with giant hands.
Complainant V Hansen said action was an unsafe action and had the potential to be emulated by a member of the general public.
Telecom said the ad was hyperbolic and said it had consulted with the Television Commercial Advisory Board, which did not give feedback that the TV ad was socially irresponsible.
It also said it has a large customer base and if the TV ad was clearly socially irresponsible, Telecom would have received many more complaints.
However, a majority of the ASA’s complaints board members thought while the character’s giant hands were obviously hyperbolic, his actions were realistic.
Victoria Young
Tue, 20 May 2014
Tue, 20 May 2014
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Telecom forced to remove TV ad
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