Offensive

Although they only account for a small part of the ASA’s work, complaints about taste and decency are often the most high profile.

Upheld decisions can result in widespread adverse publicity for the company concerned and marketers can be required to have posters pre-vetted by CAP’s Copy Advice team for two years if they publish an offensive poster.

The rules state ads must not contain anything that is likely to cause serious or widespread offence, and specifies that special care must be taken to avoid causing offence on the grounds of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability and age.

When making a decision on whether an ad is likely to cause widespread offence, we take into account: the audience who are likely to see the ad; the context in which the ad appears; the product it’s promoting; and prevailing standards in society. To help judge those standards, from time-to-time, we commission major consumer research to find out what concerns people and where they think the line should be drawn.

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Latest rulings

Colgate-Palmolive (UK) Ltd t/a Colgate Palmolive (UK) Ltd
- Upheld
- 20 August 2025
A TV ad for Sanex shower gel seen in June 2025. The ad included a voiceover that stated, "To those who might scratch day and night. To those whose skin will feel dried out even by water" alongside scenes of a black woman with red scratch marks and another covered with a cracked clay-like material. The ad then stated, "...
Inkitt GmbH t/a Inkitt
- Upheld
- In-game (apps)
- 06 August 2025
An in-app ad was not appropriately targeted and contained scenes that condoned sexually violent behaviour and were likely to cause serious and widespread offence.
Diesel SpA t/a Diesel
- Upheld in part
- Website (paid ad)
- 11 June 2025
A paid-for ad featuring Katie Price was irresponsible and likely to cause serious offence by objectifying and sexualising women.
air up GmbH
- Upheld
- Social media (paid ad)
- 28 May 2025
A paid-for TikTok ad was irresponsible and likely to cause serious or widespread offense.

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Offensive

Although they only account for a small part of the ASA’s work, complaints about taste and decency are often the most high profile.

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