A Samsung ad that featured a woman jogging by herself at 2am has been cleared by the UK regualtor despite the “tone deaf” nature of the work.
The Korean electronics giant unveiled the controversial ad in the UK back in late April. It was to advertise the brand’s new Galaxy smartwatch and headphones. Check out B&T’s original reporting HERE.
The spot’s the work of Ogilvy New York and called “Night Owls” and, upon release, was quickly called out by women’s groups and and safety campaigners for being “unrealistic”.
Others questioned if the agency had employed any women at all on the work, given the obvious dangers in the message.
Check out the offending spot below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MWc9V-L9qM
The UK watchdog, the Advertising Standards Authority, decided to investigate the ad after it received 27 complaints. It has since cleared the ad but not before a lengthy investigation.
ASA deduced the woman in the ad was “alert and aware of her surroundings and was seen running in well-lit, main streets where other people were present”, and concluded that she was “not shown behaving recklessly or obviously placing herself in danger”.
For its part, Samsung has said it is no longer running the ad but has asked ASA for further clarity on any rules it may have broken.
Samsung also expressed concerns that showing people using its headphones in further ads could be viewed as a safety hazard and that ASA should be aware that the product has a feature that allows the user to amplify ambient sound.
Check out some of the initial social media concerns about the ad below:
