Clothing retailer Dangerfield has been forced to remove an outdoor sign containing the words “fuck off” after it was banned by the Advertising Standards Bureau for being offensive.
In the ad the ‘U’ from the ‘F’ word was replaced with an extended middle finger. The ASB determined that while no “specific” swear word had been used, the use of the finger had “alluded” to the word.
“An extended middle finger used to replace the ‘U’ is understood by the broad community to be offensive and in the Board's view amounts to strong or obscene language,” the ASB ruled.
Dangerfield said: “Whilst alluding to an offending word, no specific offensive language was used on the poster … Dangerfield did not intend to offend anyone.”
Dangerfield also said it had attempted to modify the ad before it went to print but the ad was issued earlier than requested.
The issuer of the ad is no longer employed by Dangerfield, the advertiser added.
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