ASA Adjudication on Nandos Chickenland Ltd

Ad

Two internet ads on Spotify promoted a grilled chicken restaurant.

a. An internet ad on Spotify featured a man with a Portuguese accent who stated "The spirit of Nando's. One day many years ago, I introduce my friend to succulent flame grilled peri peri chicken. He was so happy that in return he introduce me to the village bicycle. Oh, all that summer I ride her and ride her, behind the cowsheds and in the fields. Sometimes my friend is there too and we both ride her and then we get off together. Then, when the winter comes, one night I leave her outside and she go rusty. But hey, her bell still works!” The sound of a bicycle bell was heard. The voice-over continued “Who knows what a friend might do for you, when you introduce them to the spirit of Nando's?"

b. Another internet ad on Spotify featured the same man with the same accent, speaking in a monotone voice. He stated “The spirit of Nando's. Hello fellow cyber space people enjoying the Spotify. Do any of you have invites left to send to friends? Well, if you introduce a friend to Spotify, maybe they will write you a thank you card, or make you a playlist, or give you a lift somewhere. But if you introduce a friend to succulent flame grilled peri peri chicken, oh well, maybe they will write you an epic love poem, or put you in their will, or let you borrow their girlfriend! Who knows what a friend might do for you, when you introduce them to the spirit of Nando's?”

Issue

1. Four complainants challenged whether ad (a), and particularly the reference to the "village bicycle", was offensive, sexist and derogatory to women and likely to cause serious or widespread offence.

2. One complainant also challenged whether ad (b), and particularly the line ... or let you borrow their girlfriend", was offensive, sexist and derogatory to women and likely to cause serious or widespread offence, because it implied that women could be treated as objects to be passed around.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

1. & 2. Nando's Chickenland Ltd (Nandos) said that the ad was narrated by a Portuguese man in English and they felt there was sufficient humour and levity in the delivery, which implied a slight misunderstanding of the English language. They said they never intended to deliberately cause offence or shock and that the use of humour was intended to help to make the ad stand out. They understood that humour was subjective and, although they took complaints seriously, they referred to many positive comments on social networking sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, from people who had enjoyed the ads. They said they had created a range of ads which had run across national and local radio as well as Spotify and they felt the theme in each ad was sufficiently varied to appeal to a range of audiences and tastes. They said they carried out a thorough internal review of all their ads, playing them out to over 150 colleagues representing a range of races, religions and both sexes to ensure that there were no concerns as to whether or not they had over-stepped the mark on taste or decency. They added that ads on Spotify were targeted and they had received a guarantee that the ads would be discretely targeted at users aged 18 years and over.

Spotify said they reviewed each ad before it was played and felt that the ads were light hearted, tongue in cheek and ironic. The ads had been targeted at Spotify users who were aged 18 or over and they had not received any direct complaints.

Assessment

1. Not upheld

The ASA noted that the ad was targeted at adults only. We understood that the ad was intended to be light hearted and humorous and considered that listeners were likely to understand that the reference to "the village bicycle" was an innuendo and that the humour was derived from the narrators lack of knowledge of the double meaning of that idiomatic phrase. We acknowledged that some viewers might find the humour in the ads in poor taste but considered that the innuendo was not sexually explicit and was not used in a sexist or derogatory way.

Because of that, we did not consider that the ad was offensive, sexist or derogatory to women and concluded it was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence.

We investigated ad (a) under CAP Code clauses 5.1 (Decency), but did not find it in breach.

2. Not upheld

We noted that the ad was targeted at adults only. We understood that the ads were intended to be lighthearted and humorous and considered that listeners would find the narrators suggestions of how a friend might show his thanks and gratitude to be increasingly comical, over the top and absurd. We did not consider that his suggestion, "let you borrow their girlfriend" was serious, or that it implied that women should be treated as objects to be passed around.

We acknowledged that some viewers might find the humour in the ads in poor taste but concluded that the ad was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence.

We investigated ad (b) under CAP Code clauses 5.1 (Decency), but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)