Lynx denies ballsy ad is response to ASB

By By David Blight | 18 July 2012
 
Lynx 'Clean your balls' campaign starring Sophie Monk.

Unilever's Lynx has denied its recent fake press conference about controversy surrounding its innuendo-laden 'Clean Your Balls' spot was a response to a ruling from the Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB).

After the news the controversial Lynx 'Clean Your Balls' campaign had been chastised by the ASB for discriminating against the elderly, Lynx launched another spot full of balls-related jokes and involving a fake press conference.

In the ad, the character holding the press conference says: “I'm here today to clear up any misunderstandings about the 'Clean Your Balls' initiative.”

While the timing of the ad's launch coincides with the ASB's determination, Lynx has denied the new ad is a response to the ad watchdog.

A Unilever spokesperson said: “The Lynx Clean Your Balls ‘press conference’ was a long planned element of our marketing campaign, and was not developed in response to the recent ruling of the ASB in relation to the way the elderly were portrayed in a previous TVC.

“We take our obligations under the various marketing codes seriously, and our intention with the original TVC was always to amuse and not offend – a lot of time and care was taken in creating the TVC to ensure the themes were in line with prevailing community standards in Australia and all characters featured in the TVC were portrayed in a light-hearted and good-natured way.”

The original ad featured actress Sophie Monk, and was chastised for in particular for a line which spoke of “old saggy balls not being played with for years”.

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