Property developer's fellatio-themed ad not deemed to be offensive

A property development company in Christchurch, New Zealand, is refusing to apologise for a billboard titled "Getting the job done". The giant Gilman Wheelans' billboard depicts a female construction worker kneeling in front of a male construction worker besides the headline "Getting the job done". In the shadows behind them it appears the woman is performing a sex act on the man. A complaint was filed with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) but was not upheld.



The complaint by C.Logan said the ad objectified woman and demeaned female construction workers. "It implies that women are sexual objects to be used for men's sexual gratification. As a woman who has worked in construction in the past, the already entrenched sexism faced daily is only worsened by the proliferation of this kind of advertising message in public spaces." In a majority decision, the ASA ruled that the shadow did meet the threshold for causing serious or widespread offence.

They agreed that the ad was "risque" and acknowledged the double entendre that the shadow presented, but ruled that it was "subtle" enough to fall under a humour provision in industry guidelines. A minority view didn't agree, and was concerned that the image was not socially responsible. Gilman Wheelans said in their response to the complaint that they had no intention to offend. "When the shadow is noticed it is seen as humorous and cleaver [sic] but not offensive." Director Hamish Wheelans said he had "no reason to apologise".



Their ads were an attempt to break free of cliche. "If all of our ads satisfied the entire market they would be glib and boring - which a lot of ads are," he said. "Whenever we do these ads we know that there is going to be some people who don't like them, but the majority of people do like them, that's why we do them." He said other feedback from the ad was positive, and it had been tested in focus groups. This is not the first time the company's ads have used shadows to controversial effect. An earlier billboard encouraged land buyers to 'start erecting in Broken Run, Halswell'. "That didn't go down well either," added Mr Wheelans.