An ad which shows a woman with a glass of wine in front of her crotch while saying, “Australia basically jumps out of the glass, in fact, some say you can almost taste the bush” has been banned due to the way it “exploits” and “undermines” women.
Due to interest in our Bush, we’re giving away 5 more cases! Tweet us “I want to #TasteTheBush” in a punny way to win pic.twitter.com/A1XjIBCZHi
— Premier Estates Wine (@premestateswine) August 14, 2015
The ban follows outraged social media users calling the #tastethebush video “tasteless” and “sexist”, however, Premier Estates Wine’s trader, Budge Brands, maintains that the campaign wasn’t created to be offensive to women and was intended to be “playful”, “tongue-in-cheek” and for an audience aged between 35-45 years. The company understood that the ad might not appeal to everyone, but claim that the woman was in charge and “owned the joke”.
Apparently bad taste sells #TasteTheBush. Or where there is muck there is money!
— helensoffice.co.uk (@MrsHelenParker) August 19, 2015
However, since the video has received several complaints, including those from Wine Australia and Alcohol Concern, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) have come to an agreement to ban the advertisement, recognising that contributing factors make a clear reference to oral sex.
The ruling stated, “The ASA considered that most viewers would understand the claim ‘some say you can almost taste the bush’ to be a reference to oral sex, particularly given that it was accompanied with the image of the wine glass positioned directly in front of the woman’s crotch.The line appeared towards the end of the ad and, in conjunction with the image, which emphasised the sexual connotation, created the final impression left by the ad.”
It continued, “While the woman was immediately aware of the double-entendre and seemingly only mildly embarrassed as a result, we considered that it served to undermine her as, until that point, she had been portrayed as confident and in control while discussing the merits of the wine, in what appeared to be a relaxed and informal party atmosphere,” the ASA stated. “For that reason, we considered that the ad presented the woman in a degrading manner, and concluded that it was likely to cause serious or widespread offence.”
The ads can’t appear in their current form again. Can you taste the justice?
[Via Metro]
