AANA tightens rules around using sexual appeal in advertising
The Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) has updated its Code of Ethics to “better align with community expectations” around using sexual appeal in advertising.
AANA says it has looked closely at community debate
Previously, the Code prohibited advertising which relied on “exploitative and degrading” sexual appeal – meaning a brand had to be found guilty of both in order to be banned. The updated code now states an ad is in breach if it is “exploitative or degrading”, which broadens the scope of ads it can be applied to. ‘Exploitative’ has also been redefined under the code.
The AANA said advertisements that the Advertising Standards Board (ASB) deemed to use sexual appeal in a manner that was ‘exploitative’ alone should be prohibited, and there was no logical reason they had to be degrading as well.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
The problem here is similar to prohibition, the Hays code or office, and sundry other moral guardians.
Advertising, theatre, and to a large degree sport, are all governed by varying degrees of sexuality.
We are all, with the possible exception of the asexual, sexual beings of one persuasion or another, and sex is at the very essence of most of the decisions we make in life.
It will always be necessary to guard against sexist,tacky and overtly skewed depictions, but the essence of sexuality is the force that drives advertising, theatre, novels, and the like; suppress it, and you end up like that old fashioned church group which banned its married members from having sex in the standing position, because of its propensity to lead to dancing.