Pavlova ad ruled tasteful

By SIMON HENDERY

A Vodafone TV ad featuring a cream and kiwifruit-covered teenager who sends a photo of himself to his girlfriend from the bathroom has been deemed acceptable by the Advertising Standards Complaints Board.

The Advertising Standards Authority received several complaints about the "human pavlova" advertisement from offended viewers who variously described it as pornographic, "distasteful on many levels", and encouraging of inappropriate use of a cellphone.

Vodafone's response to the board was that the ad reflected the company's "fun dynamic, out there and somewhat cheeky" values.

"It's about the fun and cheekiness of two-way PXT [picture] communications. As with most of our communications it's fresh and different to the rest but that's our brand and that's what our customers have come to expect."

The ad includes a shot of the teenager sneaking into the lounge past his younger sister who is playing video games.

But Vodafone disputed one objector's claim that the ad encouraged paedophilia by showing a young girl in the same physical environment as an adult male in a "sexualised state".

The company said there was no indication in the ad that the teenager's behaviour was related to sexual arousal.

"He's doing it because it's funny. He's expressing his humorous personality to his girlfriend, and awaiting an equally humorous reply."

The complaints board did not uphold the complaint, a majority believing the ad was pitched at teenagers and therefore unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence.

A minority argued that the GXC rating - meaning it could not be shown during children's programming times - was inadequate.