HUMOUR ME
Fiona Jolly, Chief Executive Officer,
Advertising Standards Bureau
...
Wherever we go there are signs of all shapes
and sizes. The question is whether we like
the sign, take any notice of the sign, or even
see the sign. From my years of experience
managing the Advertising Standards Bureau
(ASB) – the complaints arm of Australia’s
advertising self-regulation system – no
advertising is free of its critics, whether
it’s television, radio, internet, print or
Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising.
The fact that OOH by its very nature
is in public places – on billboards, bus shelters,
public transport – and cannot be hidden or
switched off like television, radio or internet
advertisements, means it will consistently
create debate in all sectors – the media,
government, the community, and between
advertisers themselves.
The nature of the ASB’s work has meant
that we have sometimes found ourselves in the
middle of some of these rigorous and, at times,
emotional debates.
In the past five years, the ASB has worked
closely with the Outdoor Media Association
(OMA) in putting forward sensible and factual
submissions to state and federal government
inquiries into OOH, ensuring we covered all
of the issues and criticisms raised.
In working with the OMA, we assured
OOH critics were listened to and we added
their criticisms to our regular research work,
ensuring that we maintain an up-to-date
understanding of community perceptions.
Fielding wide-ranging reactions and
formulating them into what can be termed
‘community standards’ has been part of the
ASB’s work since its inception in 1998. The
ASB has sought constructive feedback through
its various ‘community perceptions’ research
projects and these have provided OOH
advertisers with some evidence and answers
about the reasons for the very different
reactions to outdoor advertising.
To maintain a world-class self-regulatory
system, as well as high standards of advertising,
the continuous work of gauging people’s
reactions and perceptions is essential. This
work has led the charge in ensuring that,
when advertisers create slogans, pictures
and concepts for campaigns, they meet and
do not impinge upon community standards.
Also, importantly, the continual research has
highlighted that people’s reactions, perceptions
and knowledge change over time. Up-to-date
information about issues of community concern
is vital knowledge for advertisers, enabling
them to move in sync with the community.
Although considerable effort goes
into trying to predict where the community
will draw the line, the one subject that can
usually be relied upon to cause complaints
is sex. The list of the most complained-about
advertisements during the past 15 years
makes it clear that people are uncomfortable
with advertisements in the public domain for
certain products and services (eg condoms, sex
assistance) as well as highly sexualised images
(eg nude or topless women, intimacy).
Issues raised by the community were
considered in the research we conducted
into sex, sexuality and nudity in advertising.
Participants were very sensitive to issues
around sex and exposure of children to these
concepts. In particular, they were concerned
about the adoption of sexualised appearance
and behaviours, exacerbated by concerns
about reinforcement of unrealistic body
image expectations and the resultant selfesteem issues. Explicit or highly sexualised
images were considered most offensive to the
community, which believed they should be
less available to children. The inability to turn
off such OOH was highlighted as a concern.
However, humour, relevance and artistic
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