A skippable in-stream YouTube ad for electronic music artist Sickotoy’s single, ‘2 High 2 Care’, has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for inappropriately targeting children.
The ad for the song was seen during the child-friendly video ‘Funny Scary Dino Family Song’ on the Baby Toonz Kids TV channel.
Lyrics repeated throughout the advert included “I’m too fucking high to care”, “All night taking shots”, “That girl just gave me drugs” and “99 bitches all wanna fuck”.
Complaints were made about the irresponsible placement of the ad.
The musician’s representatives, Global Records, responded to the matter by admitting that the ad was not intended to be seen by those younger than 18 years of age. The company reportedly targeted the ad at people who had shown previous interest in the Sickotoy YouTube channel or Electronic Dance Music (EDM) in general. Nevertheless, Global Records said it “understood the implications of their ad strategy”.
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YouTube itself affirmed that it was the advertiser’s responsibility to abide by applicable law and regulations such as the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) Code.
The advertising watchdog ultimately ruled that because the ad had appeared during a video of particular appeal to children, it considered that the targeting criteria used by Global Records had proved insufficient and concluded that it had been inappropriately targeted.
“The ad must not appear in its current form. We told Global Records to ensure that 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,” the ad authority added.
