An ad for a mobile app game called Save the Bro has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for objectifying women and presenting gender stereotypes “in a way that was likely to cause harm”.
The ad depicted a male cartoon character – dressed in a Spiderman costume – saving a female cartoon character who was tethered to a wall in a starfish shape with her arms and legs splayed. A thought bubble with a red heart inside appeared above the male character’s head when he saw the woman. Two boxes then appeared which he could choose from, the first was of the girl’s face and the second was of her leggings. In each of the boxes, the spider web formed a phallic shape.
The woman then screamed “Not the Face!”, as the male character struck the girl’s leg with webs from his spider shooters at which point her trousers disappeared to reveal white underpants. Two more boxes then appeared sharing the same theme, with wording at the top of screen stating, “Now your turn”.
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A complainant, who believed that the ad was sexist, objectified women and encouraged sexual assault, contacted the advertising watchdog to challenge whether it was irresponsible, offensive and harmful.
Neither the advertiser Brightika Inc or the publisher Rollic Games responded to the ASA’s enquiries, which reportedly “concerned” the ad authority.
The ASA ultimately ruled that the ad was “likely to cause serious and widespread offence”.
“We considered that viewers would interpret the ad as depicting the woman as a stereotypical sexual object who was tied up against her will and was a victim, and that the ad appeared to present that scenario with the purpose of titillating viewers and could encourage or normalise sexual assault.”
“The ad must not appear again in the form complained about.”
