Boffer to keep out of bother
The Advertising Standards Agency has cleared ‘your daily deal’ site boffer.co.uk of having misled customers with their ‘USB Fornication Optimiser’ promotion.
Complaints were made to the ASA after a spoof promotion was run by Boffer for a free personalised daily fertility device – encouraging loyal customers to help the site increase its customer base.
When consumers ordered the USB Fornication Optimiser they were redirected to an online video at the end of which they received a code to obtain free postage on future orders.
The promotion received complaints on the grounds that it was misleading in that it was not apparent that it wasn’t a genuine promotion, and also as it was deemed offensive and insensitive to people experiencing difficulty in conceiving a child.
The ASA assessed that these complaints should not be upheld as the specifics of the offer jokingly referred to kidnapping people and forcing them to buy stuff, cloning being a grey area and the invitation for readers to help Boffer manufacture new customers. Coupled with the fact that the target audience had visited the site before and were aware of its humour, the spoof element of the promotion was deemed obvious.
The report did acknowledge that the advert could be considered by some as in poor taste, but that it was appropriately targeted at those who have used the site before.
Boffer has now decided on a series of new implementations to the site to avoid future grievances. Changes include: “descriptions will no longer be fun”, “no longer have funny pictures”, “heavily censor the forum” and “no longer be able to talk of girl’s night outs and tell you about Katie wanting to Shag Rick Astley when she was pissed”.