Fish smells and gay sauna sex: welcome to the minds of the public

The latest batch of Ad Standards Board determinations once again demonstrate as much about what goes on in the complainants’ heads as they do in the ads.

Take this one against Kimberly-Clark’s Kotex which the ASB describes thus: “The advertisement opens on a close up image of a girl looking through binoculars and a voiceover says, “Ever been out and had the feeling that you’re leaking?” We then see various images of girls in different situations as well as an image of a goldfish swimming in a plastic bag which is leaking water from numerous holes.”

Or as the complainant puts it: “The inference is that female leakage smells like fish.”

As the ASB mildly put it: “The Board considered that most members of the community would consider the advertisement does not suggest that menstruation leakage smells of fish.”