A YouTube ad for Wild deodorant – which features a masturbation scene – has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for inappropriately targeting children.
The ad opens with a woman sitting up in bed, who seems to be masturbating under the bed-covers while watching a computer screen. She is then interrupted by a talking polar bear which quizzes her on what she was watching and then joins her in bed.
The complainant, whose ten-year-old son reportedly saw the ad, challenged whether it had been irresponsibly targeted because it was seen before Minecraft videos which were likely to appeal to children.
Wild Cosmetics responded to the claims by affirming that it had ‘taken care’ to avoid the ad being shown to a younger audience. The firm claims that targets its YouTube ads based on users’ interests, for example health and beauty.
“It was likely that someone deemed a prospective customer had been logged into the YouTube account at the time the ad was shown,” the brand told the ASA.
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Wild Cosmetics went on to say that ad selection was controlled by algorithm.
Google contacted the advertising watchdog to tell them that the ad was served through Google Ads, a self-administered system, suggesting that it was the advertiser’s responsibility to abide by applicable laws and regulations, including the CAP Code. The tech giant also said that it offered tools to help advertisers exclude the type of content that their ads appear near, but offered no further comment on the specific targeting of the ad.
Nevertheless, the advertising regulator ruled that in light of the ad’s reference to masturbation the ad should have been appropriately targeted to avoid the risk of children seeing it.
“Because the ad appeared before a video likely to appeal to children, we concluded that it had been inappropriately targeted,” the ASA added.
“We told Wild Cosmetics Ltd to ensure their ads were appropriately targeted and that ads that were unsuitable for viewing by children did not appear in media that was likely to appeal to children.”
