Kazam is hardly a well-known smartphone brand in the UK, and that's unlikely to change any time soon if its ads are being pulled from TV. After a series of complaints, Britain's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned an ad for the company's Tornado 348 handset, ruling that it objectifies women and is "sexually suggestive." The clip shows a woman walking around in her underwear, grabbing a pair of jeans and ironing a shirt, only to realize that she'd forgotten to take her smartphone out of the top pocket.
The ASA criticized close-up shots that "lingered over her breasts, buttocks and lips," as well as the suggestive music and voiceover. In response, Kazam said the ad played on a well-known scenario and was only shown during broadcasts that attracted an appropriate audience. That obviously wasn't good enough for the ASA, and the ruling means the ad can't be broadcast again in its current form. Kazam could try recutting it so as to comply with the ASA's guidelines, but it's hard to see how any amount of editing could drastically change the tone of the advert.
Had Kazam focused on the actual product, this entire situation could have been avoided and one of its ads might still be running, giving the firm some much-needed exposure in the UK. Hopefully it's learned its lesson, eh?
Filed under: Cellphones
Via: The Verge, The Guardian
Source: ASA
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