KEY POINTS:
Fast-food chain Burger King has withdrawn two television advertisements deemed sexually exploitative through their "cheesy" use of bikini-clad women.
The Advertising Standards Complaints Board, in decisions issued yesterday, found both commercials breached an industry code of practice forbidding the use of sex appeal simply to draw attention to a product.
This forum debate has now closed. Here is a selection of your views on the topic.
Sexy doesn't have to mean sexist
I really resent people saying that anyone who would object to the latest BK ads don't have a sense of humour. First of all I'm hilarious and no prude, in fact most people think my sense of humour is just plain dirty! & I laugh easily, but I don't quite see whats so funny about those stupid ads. Secondly I thought 'irony' was a play against something else? There is nothing ironic about something that is just straight out what it's supposedly playing against i.e. sexist -women's sexuality used a marketing device? Yawn! and for burgers no less? double yawn. And last but not least, why is it exactly that sexist 'jokes' (lets at least make them funny can we?) are supposed to be o.k. where racist ones are not? they concern the same issues -demeaning a section of the population. It seems that women have to go along with this banal laddish rubbish in order to get ahead -because, you know if you don't "you don't have a sense of humour"... it is entirely possible to have a great sense of humour and still manage not to be sexist, rascist or homophobic -as odd as that is to believe.
I am very appreciative of gorgeous women on TV. Don't take that away from a man. Like many people are saying, no different to lil boy Carlos in his jocks. If you are going to take the BK girls away from us, why not be consistent and stop the Carlos ads.
Fat Geek
I've loathed the ads form the moment they first came on and BK have lost a customer (and as a result my whole family we have moved over to Burger Fuel). Having said that, I can't see any reason why they should be banned. Its just another crap advert.
Natalie
I totally agree with Chris below on that one, what kind of mother lets a 3 year old watch a beached-based show where almost every episode has girls in bikinis not to mention murder, drugs, abortion and strip-clubs! The people against it need to get a life and change the channel! I find it extremely sexist that sports stars such as Dan Carter & Carlos Spencer can sell underwear/biscuits practically naked and do you hear any blokes complaining? All the women complaining about this ad are obviously not the bikini wearing types!
ASR
How disappointing that NZ continues to demonstrate a lack of a sense of humour. And what has happened to the famous Kiwi common sense?Both are indications of the ridiculous lengths to which some groups are taking things these days in an effort to impose their view of reality on the rest of us. Let's hope these people eventually get back in touch with the real world.
Chris
I thought one of the complaining people were sooo stupid to complain.Its apparently bad for her 3 year old daughter or granddaughter (cant remember which one it was) to not see a girl in her bikini....But its ok for her to watch Home and Away? where theres drug popping teenagers, cars crashing, violence, sex,....I'd rather my kid see someone in a bikini, compared to the crap thats on Home and Away.Advertisements are meant to attract someone to get that product, and no I haven't seen the ad but the girls looked cute (was in the paper) and if they get ppl to buy then the ad worked. Ain't that the whole concept of having a ad?
John
Ahhh, I see the debate continues in NZ for the use of sex to sell products. I am not surprised, again, that it is an advert depicting attractive women that gets banned.
Can someone explain to the comment from some of the wingers of why "its still a mans world", when Daniel Carter is still pasted all over the country in his undies?...To New Zealanders, Equality for all means equality for all. Geez, men will be banned from looking at a woman in a tight top soon.
Annalise, Auckland
I totally agree with getting rid of half naked woman to sell hamburgers! What on earth is Burger King thinking? Don't women have their own money and influence purchases for the entire household in their world? Well they are wrong and they have certainly lost a customer here! Viva la revolution against Burger King.
sick of it (Karaka)
I for one and my entire family fail to see the connection between skimpily clad women and BK. Are they that desperate that they have to resort to what amounts to soft porn. Tell me, how does the image of women riding on horsebacks with their assets bobbing up and down relate to a burger? Marketing agencies and their companies should set a better example than resorting to these gimmicks and tricks to sell their wares.BK and the Tall Blacks, that I can relate to.
Kharsis
Once again the BSA shows it has no backbone and bows in to a vocal minority. The ads were absolutely harmless, especially compared to Home & Away (what responsible sane parent would allow any child to watch that rubbish). The BSA needs to get an understanding that it is 2007 and ads like the BK ones are harmless and tasteful.
Peter Watkins
Men eat hamburgers. And women eat toffee pops. And my guess is that the women who complain about this have hypocritically eaten too many toffee pops while drooling over Carlos Spencer, and are simply jealous that they wouldn't fit the bikinis shown in the BK ad.
Arthur (Eden Terrace)
What ever happened to the easiest form of censorship that anyone can use - turning the TV off or changing the channel? All TVs have several buttons, on the set itself, or on a remote control, that facilitate such basic functions. If you don't like it, don't watch it.
Kimbo (North island)
You people moaning about bikini clad girls ,get a life. You obviously dont look around in the summertime. Girls are everywhere walking ,running ,doing whatever even going to Burger King and yes they do ride horses on beaches. I have seen it and any way theres lots of girls out there that like the ad as well. Your children would look at the ad and think it would be fun ,riding horses onthe beach. Home and Away? Nothing good happens there ,poor children.
Wayne
What is the problem? You go to the beach and you see the same . What woodwork do these strange people come from?
Kevin Stitt
Bikini clad, beautifully shaped, women have nothing to do with consumption of Burger King's fast food, and the sexual innuendos of this advertisement go way beyond the limits of proclaiming the benefits of their products. I appreciate BK may be clutching at straws to find any benefits to promote, but this advert was way over the top.
Amy
I'd like to point out to the concerned parent has a bit of a nerve complaining about bikini-clad girls on TV ads when she is watching Home and Away with her 3-year-old. Home and Away is full of bikini-clad girls - along with storylines containing drugs, strip clubs, abortion, blackmail and worse.
Leone James
I cannot believe that this advertisement has been banned. The lady in question who says she is not a prude is just that. Hey women do ride horse back on the beach in bikinis and if you do not like the ad turn the TV off. And why is a three year old watching Home and Away? I am in my 50s, have three daughters and a grandaughter. I have lived with a lot of changes as my mother did. I would be the first person to say stop, but girls riding on horse back in bikinis is the least of our worries.
Manawa
The BK girls represent health, vitality and beauty from keeping fit and toned. Definitely not images that should be used to advertise hamburgers.
Kris
So it is alright to have a guy not wearing much advertising chocolate biscuits but it isn't alright to have girls in bikinis advertising burgers? And here I was thinking we had almost achieved equality between the genders. For shame women of NZ, for shame.
Barcus (Stratford)
Have we not become a little precious? Whether some like it or not, sex has been used to sell products since Adam was a lad and banning this particular advertisement will not change that. My perspective as a professional artist is to appreciate the human form and I find nothing distasteful in this. Au contraire. The hamburgers on the other hand...
Jackie
It's all about brand association. The use of bikini girls to promote Burger King fast food, in my opinion, is tasteless and tacky. To this day I'm still trying to figure what the association is between the two. It's merely an attempt attract one's attention to the television screen and if BK is lucky enough then a flock of boys will flood their stores. What about the girls? What I'm saying is, you don't have to take the bikini girls out, just associate them with different branding altogether. BK, come up with a better marketing concept please!
Jaclyn
And you wonder why Paris Hilton's burger commercial didn't work either!?
Matt from Dunedin, Student
I appluad this decision. I am still puzzled, though, as to how this advert made it onto New Zealand television anyway.I don't see how anyone can find it acceptable that fast food can be advertised in this way. The models are depicted as skinny, "attractive," people, and the advert is pretty much saying that if you eat Burger King, you will end up looking like this. Of course, this is not true, quite the contrary in fact. It is not at all surprising that we have such a high rate of obesity in New Zealand, if fast food is advertised in such ways. What I find just as disturbing, is that this advert is shown during prime time television, when younger people will be watching. If the decision is to not ban the advert entirely, it should definitely only be shown after a certain time, e.g. 8:30pm.There is one thing on the for side of this argument, it is the Tui advertisements. They also depict similar scenes, yet, (to my knowledge) they were never banned. Despite showing scenes of half naked females in the shower.
Nick
Maybe BK should have used Dan Carter in his jockeys holding a burger instead...
Bill in Auckland
Another thing I wanted to add to my previous: Little kids need to be in bed by 8pm, as there is nothing on TV that's geared toward them after that hour anyway. All programs after that hour generally carry an adult-only rating. And, if I recall correctly, the BK Girls only came on after 8pm. Therefore, I would ask these parents that were offended why their children were up watching adult subject matter to begin with? I personally enjoy watching adult subject matter on TV, and would hate to have it so toned down that it wouldn't be worth watching.
BlueShift
How can the woman in the story be so hypocritical as to complain about the BK Girls ad confusing her 3 year old while they were watching Home & Away together? Any given episode of H&A has more bikini action and adult concepts than the whole series of BK ads, with Tui & Primo thrown in for luck! How does she explain the to the child?
Viane Amato
It is sad to see a popular children's fast food chain having to employ such an inappropriate marketing campaign. Are they so out of touch with their client base? My family regularly go to Burger King, have all agreed that we will not give our business to BK for the next 3 months. The Burger King ad must rate up there for exploitative ads together with the Hyundai ad using toddlers with romantic innuendoes to sell cars . Tasteless, out of touch and obviously created by sick individuals.
Mark
Surely there are far more important things to be worried about than this. Too many PC, narrow minded individuals with far too much time on their hands. Come on people lets start worrying about the stuff that's really important.
Anthony
This is ridiculous. All you need to do is head to any beach in the world and you will see exactly what is shown here in this advertisement. New Zealand is loosing the plot. Cant we have fun any more?
Nick
Removed? That's just crazy. I just started buying BK after seeing that TV ad.
Grace (Parnell)
Once again we didn't learn anything from the 70's. Once again its a man's world. Take the ad off air? Good job!
Charlotte Hoare
What? There is an industry code of practice forbidding the use of sex appeal simply to draw attention to a product? This is quite a revelation when I consider what I usually see in advertisements! I am grateful that this 'quiet' code is finally getting its hey-day now that the BK bikini girls are off the plate. How long will it take for women to realise that dressing like an object for men renders society no favours? Advertisements like the BK one sell us short- rather than 'would you like some fries with that?' we see 'would you like a side breast with that?
Marlene
Many of us, of the fairer sex, believe strongly that this is still a male dominated modern world. Why is everything always geared to the male sex? Advertising is dominated by beautiful, almost naked girls, but when there happen to be a male in an advertisement, he is either fat or made to look like an idiot!! Why can we not also see some sexy, handsome guys in advertising or where ever. We assume that the advertising business is purely run by males. Even when one watches sport, we get assume we only get male photographers as the cameras always pan in on beautiful, skimpy cladded girls and dorky looking guys. We, the female sex are not going through this world blind, so what's happening to our world?
Simon (Auckland)
I'm not sure I understand one of the complainants - she feels uncomfortable with her three year old watching this advertisement, yet has no problem with her three year old sitting through an episode of Home and Away; a show laden with Australian emotional drama queens, scantily clad individuals and crime? Give me a break.
Parenting with Morals and Integrity (North Shore)
I'm appalled at these BK adds showing these girls - what's food to do with naked women. Even my 15 year old daughter says these ads are disgusting insofar as using semi-clad women to sell food. I'm glad they're being barred from using this sexually exploitive form of advertising food.
Meryl
Yes - they should be banned - they are irrelevant to ads about hamburgers. They also suggest to young women that they need to dress sexily and that it's desirable to have men drooling over them. As I'm not male I don't know what effect it has on them, but I suspect it is not conducive of much respect for young females.
Paul Ahipara
The Girls looked great - better than the food . Tell the moaners to get a life!
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