No action over inappropriate condom ad

Michelle Blundell as Louise Nicholas in the new television drama Consent. Photo / Supplied

No action will be taken against TVNZ for airing a condom advertisement during a television movie about one of New Zealand's most high-profile rape trials.

Complaints were received by the Advertising Standards Authority about the Skyn Condoms advertisement, which showed a woman in her underwear talking about how much she loved sex, a report by the authority said.

The ad was shown during Consent: The Louise Nicholas Story, which was aired on TV One on Sunday night and told of Ms Nicholas' fight for justice when she took a police officer and two former police officers to court over allegations of rape.

One of the complainants, M Devon, told the authority TVNZ, the Skyn Condoms company and the agency responsible for advertising them, should all be censured for advertising the product during a television dramatisation depicting rape and sexual abuse of women.

"In my opinion this oversight by all concerned is offensive in the extreme."

Other complainants shared the same views, the authority said.

TVNZ told the authority the ad was shown during the film as a result of "human error".

"We understand that it played in the wrong place at the wrong time and we are very sorry that we didn't pick this up before it went to air," TVNZ told the authority.

"The programme's subject matter wasn't taken into account and it should have been. This was due to human error and wasn't a deliberate decision; however the fault was ours and it shouldn't have happened."

It was reviewing its ad booking processes as a result, the broadcaster said.

The authority said the ad placement should have been considered before the broadcast.

But it settled the matter because of the broadcaster's apology and review of processes.

Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum, former police officers, and Clint Rickard, who became Assistant Commissioner, were found not guilty of raping Ms Nicholas.

Shipton and Schollum were already jailed for the rape of another woman. Detective Inspector John Dewar was convicted of four charges of attempting to obstruct or defeat the course of justice and jailed for four-and-a-half years.

- additional reporting New Zealand Herald.