The Advertising Standards Authority has banned a poster by Girl vs Cancer for using an “offensive” sexual swear word alongside sexual imagery displayed in an untargeted medium easily viewable by children.
The poster, created by Bartle Bogle Hegarty for the inclusive, community-led charity, was part of a wider campaign that addressed sex, pleasure and intimacy for people living with or beyond cancer.
The poster execution featured a nude close-up of women who have experienced cancer, along with the line: “Cancer won’t be the last thing that f*cks me.” Katie Burdon shot them through Academy Films.
The poster campaign ran in Finsbury Park, Hackney and Tower Gateway from 23 October last year. Two complainants saw the poster in October.
In its defence, Girl vs Cancer said the poster represented the real-life experience of women and the emotions they had experienced and, while it accepted that this may have made people uncomfortable, it did not believe the ad would likely cause serious or widespread offence.
The charity argued the imagery had been crafted to ensure the models’ breasts were covered and no other body parts beyond their torsos were visible.
Girl vs Cancer believed the language and image were relevant to the lived experiences and issues faced by many women with cancer and were not used gratuitously.
On the use of the word “f*cks”, Girl vs Cancer said the swear word was in keeping with, and necessary for, the campaign message and creative execution.
Media owner Build Hollywood said the ad had been removed when it was made aware of the complaint. Despite this, it argued that due to the importance of the topic, the campaign deserved to be highlighted and talked about openly. It felt the poster did not intend to offend viewers but rather to educate them.
In response, the ASA acknowledged that while the poster did not explicitly use the word “fucks”, the use of an asterisk to obscure the letter “u” would not obscure the reference to the swear word.
The watchdog argued that combined with the imagery, viewers were likely to interpret the ad as depicting sexual behaviour.
It accepted Girl vs Cancer’s argument that the imagery and language were carefully chosen and not gratuitous but argued “fuck” was a word likely to offend and should not be alluded to in advertising.
The ASA, in banning the ad, concluded it was likely to cause serious and widespread offence and was inappropriate for display in an untargeted medium where children could see it.
Source: Campaign
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