Tui 'flash message' ads ruled OK

A complaint about a Tui beer commercial involving a "flash message" that can only be read when replayed in slow motion has been dismissed by the Advertising Standards Complaints Board.

The advertisement shows two men dressed as women infiltrating the female workforce at a Tui brewery in an attempt to steal beer.

At the end of the advertisement there is a flash message which reads: "There's something special to be said about bird watching. Particularly native birds. So while having a mouthful of Mangatainoka's finest, check out www.tui.co.nz and click on our favourite native for another 'birds eye view'."

The complainant said her children were watching pre-recorded television when they noticed a kink at the end of the commercial and discovered the message after playing it again in slow motion.

She asked the complaints board if such an advertising technique was legal in New Zealand.

DB Breweries, which produces Tui, responded by questioning whether the correspondence was a complaint or a query.

It said it had used the same advertising tactics in an earlier beer commercial which had been brought to the board's attention.

On that occasion the board ruled that advertising ethics codes had not been breached.

DB Breweries pointed out the advertisement was screened in an adult timeslot -- at 9.41pm and suggested the message wouldn't have been worthy of a complaint if it had been visible in the broadcast.

The complaints board discussed whether the correspondence was in fact a complaint, and decided an issue had been raised and was worthy of investigation.

The board's chairman referred to the complaint about the previous advertisement and said the majority of the board had agreed it was a "harmless parody".

The board confirmed the advertisement in question didn't breach any principles, but noted that care needed to be taken in regard to use of flash messages in advertising.

- NZPA