Potty mouthed Nissan TV advert cleared by ASA
A television advert for the Nissan Note has been cleared by the Advertising Standards Agency of being offensive following complaints over the use of swear words such as ‘bastard’ and ‘shit’.
The colourful language took the form of lyrics to an accompanying Franz Ferdinand soundtrack which said: “What's the colour of the next car. It's red you bastard, yeah red you bastard. Don't believe in God, but believe in this shit ..." prompting two complainants to challenge whether such language was suitable for children to hear.
One of the complainants also voiced concern that those who believe in the supernatural may also be offended by the reference to God.
In their defence Nissan claimed that the lyrics were ‘barely discernible’ and that the version used supplanted the swear words for the inoffensive ‘basket’ and ‘schtick’. They added that the soundtrack was a ‘peripheral aspect of the ad taken as a whole’ and contained nothing to ‘suggest or imply anything irreligious’.
In their judgement the ASA observed: “We considered that the words "basket" and "schtick" could clearly be made out and while viewers who were familiar with the original version of the song might mistake those lyrics for the swear words contained in the original version, it was unlikely that the viewers and particularly children would believe they had heard swear words and be offended.”
Similarly dismissing the religious dimension the ASA added: “We appreciated that the lyric expressed a view that would be at odds with the beliefs of some people, but we acknowledged that there was nothing else in the ad's content to suggest criticism of religion or belief in God, and the lyric was given no prominence. We concluded that, given the context of the ad, the lyric was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence.”
A third complaint that the ghost train style theme of the advert could be frightening to children was also thrown out.
No further action will be taken against Nissan as a result.