A Marmite advert which parodies the work of animal welfare officers faces censure after racking up 250 official complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) since it launched on Monday night.
The ad features a spoof rescue unit travelling around the UK, recovering “neglected” jars of Marmite that have been left at the back of cupboards.
YouTube link.
A spokesman for the ASA said complaints vary from the ad being in “poor taste” to being “deeply offensive” because it “trivialises” the work of both animal welfare charities and child protection agencies.
The ASA is currently logging and assessing the complaints but has made no decision on whether it will investigate the ad. A spokeswoman for Unilever said it was never the brand’s intention to cause offence.
5 comments:
I found it funny and disturbing. I may seem paranoid, but I couldn't help but be upset at the thought of people coming to my home and demanding to be let in and searching through my private business. I see this as our future. Fahrenheit 451 anyone?
Here in the U.S., I fear the same, more and more.
That said, I found the commercial very funny. They even blurred out the dogs face and the grimace on the little boy's face at the end? LOL Too funny.
Marmite knows their product's reputation and they play it well in this self-deprecating spot. I can't imagine finding this commercial demeaning of anything except the product being feature.
People who exist on the fringe of society often lack humor, and there's no group of people more on the lunatic fringe in modern Western society than animal activists -- though environmentalists give them a good run for their money.
I don't think you have to be an extreme animal activist to find it a little bit disturbing and can understand the view that it "trivialises" animal rescue/child protection services!
It is also a wee bit funny, but hey, people have found it offensive and felt the need to complain, which is just the other side of the coin to someone like the last poster relating it to animal activists on the fringes of society.....
oh come on people - it was funny -it doesn't trivialize anything and its not disturbing - lighten up - not everything has to be taken as offensive or as social commentary
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