iSelect ad banned for showing a man using a laptop in a jacuzzi
An ad for iSelect that shows a man using a laptop in a jacuzzi has been banned by the advertising watchdog for encouraging the use of electronic goods in water.
One complaint to the Ad Standards Bureau read: “Some people, particularly children, may believe that it is normal to use electrical devices while in a bath. It’s just dangerous and encourages unsafe behaviour. They should think before designing such a dangerous advertisement.”
The ad, which was created by AJF Partners, was taken off air today.
I hope they produce an advert that ridicules that decision and points out how blatantly stupid it is…!
Simon
http://www.TwoCentsGroup.com.au
It’s stupid to show people doing something dangerous?
Almost a dangerous as sponsoring the Titian’s NRL team for $1M
Yeah really dangerous, almost as irresponsible as NZ tourist bureau promoting bungie jumping, or snow boarding down mountains or climbing glaziers – get real Simon guessing your behind the meadow lea margarine ads which are arguably as dangerous as the new waterproof cases for iPads. . It comedic, get it? it’s not actually real !
This ad is just a walking time bomb and has rightly been pulled.
I mean, it shows people setting up a hot tub in an office (think of the OH&S implications!) and shows a bloke in a suit in the hot tub (oh, the dry cleaning!).
The advertising agency should be forced to take out full page newspaper advertisements and conduct training sessions to warn people:
1) Not to set up hot tubs in office buildings
2) Not to wear suits in hot tubs
3) Not to use electronic equipment in hot tubs.
Only then can we be truly safe from this terrifying menace.
Yeah, the company who installed the Spa it should be deregistered, de-listed and de-spared. It’s outrageous, The Actor should have been wearing a yellow safety vest at the very least. But you know what? it’s a great ad to illustrate why you need insurance.
By the way, it’s the laptop that would die but the actors would survive. Good on advertising standards for standing up for the right of Laptops everywhere!
Ok so maybe they got it wrong with this one, but I must admit I do enjoy this series of ads. I think they have a struck the right balance of humour for an ads within a fairy dry category…
Won’t somebody think of the children?!
What the fuck is going on
How can a laptop that isn’t plugged into the wall electrocute you? The only thing that would result from this scenario is a broken laptop.
it not a Mac Book Pro or an iPad so who cares if the Windows Laptop dies!
I actually just heard a rumour that it was banned because it’s a lot funnier than Medibank Private ads.
Sounds like they failed to put in a sagacious response to the complaint / response to Ad Standards, Wouldn’t you just go back with a PG rating option, rather than shoot another TV ad? It’s sad because I love that ad.
I actually think they were right in pulling it.. even if you can’t get electrocuted for the battery alone, kids won’t look in to the ad enough to see that there isn’t a cord. They will just see that it’s a laptop in the bath and think that they can do the same.
^not sure if trolling or just really stupid.
oh dear.
here we go again – what do authorities think we are all a little bit silly … come on mum let’s bake a sponge in the hot tub and see what happens….seriously over PC!
Definitely an opportunity for iSelect to do another ad, ridiculing this stupid decision 🙂
I’m not traumatised but I do remember when my Mum’s hairdresser was found lightly-boiled and very dead when I was young after a radio he was listening to fell into the bath.
Wow some of the people commenting here should probably plug their laptops in and jump in a jacuzzi.
Honestly if your child is stupid enough to take a laptop into a jacuzzi, then maybe you should just let them….
Pity that the ad had to be pulled, it was one of the funnier ones out there. And I did enjoy the statement from iSelect: “….suggesting that you should share a spa with your boss, fully clothed, in his office, talk to him on a mobile while he’s two feet away, while not getting wet and finding ice creams under hot water.”
You all forgot the dire health implications of eating hot-tub-ice-cream!
Unacceptable. People should be warned.
Loving the response from iSelect.
I’ve seen it like 16 times, so i’d say the ad has hit its peak on the diminishing returns curve by now anyway.
*still dumb to ban gags – most TV ads are already boring
Ridiculous decision by the ASB.
Sabrina – I tried climbing a glazier the other day…he didn’t like it much…probably shoudl be banned.
does the ad also encourage children to take up cost-effective health insurance?
also, the fat guy has man-boobs. it should be rated MA15+
Just a thought, and not saying it’s the case in this instance, do we think there are many instances of competitors entering scurrilous complaints about ads? If nothing else to tie people up in defending it etc.
I guess you could say it happens whenever the religious lobby etc get involved.
What is dangerous is some adjudicator at the Ad Standards Bureau seems to have lost all sense of perspective.
Next they’ll be telling us that Red Bull doesn’t actually give you wings!
what does sagacious mean?
@anonymous… no idea but sagacious stuff sounds bloody dangerous too. i’d ban it just to be safe!
Just so long as wrestling is allowed to air on tv, i think the kids are alright.
I would have thought the bluenoses would have been more offended by the blatant homosexual content of the ad. Particularly the bit where the guy puts his head under the water next to the other guy’s torso.
Sagacious? it means “clever”, stupid 🙂
Shocking. Positively shocking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtkFmufS6k8
Dumb reason to ban the ad….
they should just ban it because it’s a dumb ad.
@anonymous… sagacious is what happens when you’ve been in a jacuzzi for too long
Thanks for clarifying rog
Would any of the following be allowable in a tv commercial?
– Pole vaulting using a pole made of ice?
– Driving a car into the sea?
– Plate spinning with fully grown elephants on the plates?
– Playing football (soccer) with a kettle instead of a ball?
If anyone knows that would be great!!!
The real question is whether this is a genuine Jacuzzi or not. The controversy is good colateral advertising for the genuine spa brand Jacuzzi, however, I’m unconvinced that the spa appearing in the advert is an actual Jacuzzi. Jacuzzi currently sell just one ’round-shaped’ spa in Australia as far as I know, the J-210 model. The one in the advert appears to be a cheaper imitation….I’m just sayin’…
Come on people, lighten up! Have you ever watched the shows kids watch? I’m sure they know that it is just a joke, especially when he brings ice cream up from under the water. I love the ISelect guy and I can’t wait for every new ad that comes on. Keep on making them.
I reckon this whole range of ads is demeaning to the characters portrayed therein – isn’t this the guy who gets people’s names wrong and then tells them their name is what he thinks it is?
Yeah, some people think these are funny and clever – I think these ads are the product of ad agency staff after they’ve been to a long lunch. Plain old bollocks.
And if your kids are stupid enough to operate electrical gear of any kind in the tub, you probably should have had your tubes tied before inflicting your offspring on the world. While I’m at it, “F*** the Nanny State!” (end rant)
Anyone who is:
(a) old enough to be using a laptop (or similar electronic device)
(b) moronic enough to hop into the tub/pool/washing machine with it
Clearly:
(c) deserves the subsequent consequences…and
(d) has no right to blame advertising or anyone else for their stupidity
Seriously pathetic.
I love the guy in the iSelect ads, he is absolutely brilliant and should have his own tv show….perhaps he could run the show sitting in a jacuzzi.