The UK's advertising watchdog has rapped an artificial grass company for featuring a half-naked woman on a billboard below the words: “Get laid by the best”.
The massive advert was placed by a supplier named Great Grass, and features a heading in all capital letters which read: “ARTIFICIAL GRARSE EXPERTS”.
When complaints began rolling in, the company said they thought most people found it amusing, however, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) did not see the funny side and concluded their investigation by saying the billboard “objectified and stereotyped women as sexual objects”.
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They also noted the spelling of the word "arse" was clearly a reference to the model's buttocks and had therefore made the exposed part of her body the "focus" of the ad.
As a result of the watchdog’s decision, the advert cannot appear again “in its current form” and the company has since been warned that their marketing material should be “socially responsible” in the future.
It stated: “We concluded that the ad objectified and stereotyped women as sexual objects, was irresponsible and likely to cause serious offence.
“The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Great Grass MCR Ltd t/a Great Grass to ensure their future ads were socially responsible and did not cause serious or widespread offence.”
The billboard was put up in Oldham, Greater Manchester in September of this year, and included offers for “free quotes” and “free samples” at its nearby showroom.
The ASA said three complaints had challenged whether the ad was “offensive, harmful and irresponsible” due to its use of a near-naked model and sexually charged wording.
In response, the company said they’d used the “Get laid by the best” in the past and said that “perfect 365 days a year” meant they believed their grass was perfect all year round.
Great Grass also said it was noteworthy that there had only been three complaints when the ad had been seen by thousands of people.
Therefore, they believed that most onlookers were not offended by the ad but found it amusing. They assumed the later complaints were mostly generated by people on social media encouraging others who likely had not even seen it to raise further concerns.
Great Grass also said that to assume that the person featured in the ad was a woman was wrong and offensive to the transgender community.
But the ASA upheld the complaint against the company and said the model was being presented as a “sexual object”.
It said: “The ASA considered that those who saw the ad would understand that it featured a woman. The model was dressed only in underpants and was lying on her front on the grass, which exposed her buttocks.
“Large text above the image stated, “ARTIFICIAL GRARSE EXPERTS”. We noted that the word ‘grass’ was spelt incorrectly to include the word 'arse'.
“considered that was likely to be understood by readers to be a reference to the model’s buttocks and had the effect of making that exposed part of her body the focus, thereby drawing attention to the ad.”
It went on: “The ad also stated, 'Get laid by the best'. We considered 'get laid' would be understood by readers as a slang reference to sexual intercourse.
“We considered that text, together with the model’s pose and state of undress, was sexually suggestive and would be seen as presenting the model as a sexual object. We acknowledged that while sunbathing, people might recline on a lawn wearing revealing clothing.
“However, we considered that in the context of the ad, in particular, the references to 'arse' and 'get laid', the model was portrayed as a sexual object, rather than someone who was sunbathing.”
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