The ad watchdog has made a ruling on the second round of complaints about Lynx's infamous 'Clean Your Balls' ad, which has already been censored after complaints of ageism were upheld last month.
The Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) has ruled the ad is suitable for broadcast.
The ad, featuring Sophie Monk, is a mock-up of an infomercial wherein Monk's character tells the audience “balls, no one wants to play with them when they're dirty”. Men in the audience then offer up their dirty tennis balls, basketballs and cricket balls to be cleaned by Lynx's shower gel and body buffer.
The ASB ruled last month the original campaign was ageist as it referred to an older gentleman's “saggy old balls” that “no one had played with for years”. The ASB stated the ad showed “a negative depiction of an older person and that this depiction does amount to discrimination against older men” and Lynx cut the offending footage.
The altered ad saw almost 100 further complaints fielded by the ASB, with complainants stating they found the ad “racist”, “demeaning” and “sexist”.
“[This ad] encourages the paradigm that all men require any form of sexual service they desire from any woman they find desirable and that said acts should be serviced in front of an audience,” wrote one complainant. “Not only does it teach young women to have lower standards and expectations with regards to men's attitudes towards women but it also teaches young men to expect fantastical services and be satisfied with nothing less.”
Another complainant argued the ad was “amusing” to start with, but “loses its focus and just becomes crass”.
“It's offensive and does not advertise the product. The references to balls, hairy balls and ball sacks are ridiculously childish and distasteful.”
Unilever responded to the complaints arguing the ad met standards after its previous alternation as ordered by the ASB. It argued the ad was “fun” and “tongue-in-cheek”.
“Lynx strives to create amusing marketing campaigns and promotions, and the men and women featured in our advertising are always in on the joke,” Unilever wrote. “Men generally don't feel comfortable discussing their personal hygiene openly and thus campaigns around men's hygiene and health resonate better with all men, and young adults in particular, when they use humour as a way to talk about important issues.”
The ASB stated the ad “did not contain strong sexual references and treated sex, sexuality and nudity with sensitivity” and that the references to balls were “not inappropriate”.
“The use of the term 'balls' is an accepted reference to men's genitals in Australia and would not be considered strong or obscene,” the ASB wrote. “[References were made] in conjunction with the sports presentation setting and the use of a variety of actual sporting balls.”
The complaints were dismissed and the ad continues to air without further alterations.
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