A TVC by Marketforce showing a Barbie doll simulating sexual poses while washing a car has been pulled off air following complaints to the Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB).
The ad, for Fonterra’s Peters & Brownes Chill milk, depicts a Barbie-style doll dressed in a bikini and high-heeled boots. Carrying a bucket of water and sponge, she does a sexy dance routine to promote the flavoured milk range and a competition to win a Ford Ute.
The doll washes the car hubcaps while shaking her booty to the camera, lies on the car’s bonnet and slides down the windscreen wiper. She also washes the front windscreen on all fours then washes the grille with her bottom in the air.
The TVC, which was modelled on Jessica Simpson’s Dukes of Hazzard music video clip, for These Boots Were Made for Walking, finishes with the doll sitting on the bonnet with her legs apart and pouring the bucket of water over her body.
Most complainants objected to the sexualisation of a child’s toy and said it denigrated women.
“It’s blatantly sexual and I find the use of a Barbie doll explicitly tells young girls ‘this is expected of you. This is what men want’,” one viewer complained.
“The poses and acts that the doll performs is what one might expect to see in a soft porn movie,” said another, while one complainant expressed indignation at “simply thinking about the content of this ad and how chauvinistic, sexist, degrading and offensive it is”.
Marketforce defended the ad as a parody of the Jessica Simpson clip. By substituting a real woman with something that was not real [a doll], the ad was making fun of sexual stereotypes, the agency said.
However, in light of the Board’s decision to uphold viewer complaints, Marketforce has agreed to remove the spot from air.
During the Board’s November meeting, the ASB considered 56 ads and upheld three, including the Fonterra ad.
It upheld complaints for a Vodafone print ad and a TVC for Sony Computer Entertainment’s Tekken game.
For full details see www.adstandards.com.au/pages/casestudy_c.asp.
