The ad watchdog has upheld a case against a Hungry Jack's radio ad which featured one man hitting another, after just one complaint, ruling it featured "unjustified violence".
The radio spot was for the brand's $4.95 Stunner Value Meal and featured a debt collector threatening and hitting another man because he owed someone $5. The agressor said: "You borrow that kind of money, you gotta be prepared for the consequences." This was followed by the cries of the man being attacked, and then a voiceover describing the importance of $5 and the food included in the meal deal.
The complainant told the Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) that the ad promoted violence and didn't promote the right message due to the amount of recent alcohol-fuelled crimes.
"Given the recent media coverage in relation to alcohol-related violence, the use of violence to advertise buying a food product does not set a good example. The ad is clearly aimed at young people and uses violence as a natural consequence for not returning money."
Hungry Jacks denied the consumer's claims about the ad, arguing: "No reasonable person would understand it to seriously suggest that Hungry Jack’s condones or encourages violence. It is in our view a gross exaggeration of what is in fact depicted in the commercial.
"The slapstick humour of the narrative scene, coupled with the comic incongruence of $5 positioned as a considerable amount of money, is an exaggerated demonstration of the value proposition of ‘Stunner’ value meals."
It also denied the ad targeted young people given its actors voicing the ad were aged 30, 36 and 39 respectively.
The watchdog ruled that despite the broader community most likely understanding the ad was fictional, the sound effects of the man being attacked were too realistic and thus a breach of Section 2.3 of the Code.
It said: "The moaning and pained sounds of the man who has been hit are realistic and he sounds distressed.
"The sound effects were not sufficiently humorous or unreal to mitigate the depiction of hitting or violence. The portrayal of violence in this manner is not justifiable in the context of the product being advertised."
Hungry Jacks has since agreed to comply with the ruling and has removed the commercial from all booked radio stations.
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