Ad description
An Instagram post by Auto Finesse, a car detailing and cleaning company, seen on 7 October 2024, featured a video of two male garage workers appearing to watch a woman wearing a short skirt and high heels walk down the street. The camera briefly focused on the lower half of the woman’s body. One of the men said, “Hello hello, now what are you doing here, gorgeous?” He then whistled and said to the other man, “Hey come and take a look at this little one. Something else. Now tell me, you wouldn’t want to have a go on that little beauty? Eh.” Both men laughed. The camera then panned to the woman, who walked past a car being cleaned. A voice-over stated, “Auto Finesse. For the things that make you go ooh.” A caption on the post stated, “For the things that make you go Oohhhhhhh!”.
Issue
The complainant, who believed the ad trivialised catcalling and sexual harassment, challenged whether it objectified women and promoted a harmful gender stereotype.
Response
Auto Finesse Ltd acknowledged that the ad included a gender stereotype, but said its purpose was to reflect a scenario that viewers would find familiar and humorous. They did not believe the gender stereotype used was harmful or offensive.
They said the ad was part of a campaign called ‘Things That Make You Go Oohhhhhhh”. The purpose of the ad was to lead viewers into thinking a particular situation was unfolding, before revealing a ‘twist’ that related to their business. They believed the unexpected twist engaged viewers by playing on their assumptions to create a memorable moment.
Auto Finesse said the scenario depicted was not intended to make light of or endorse inappropriate behaviours. The interaction between the two men and the woman was exaggerated for comedic effect and captured the attention of the viewer without condoning or normalising harmful behaviours. They said it did not feature explicit language, gestures or settings associated with catcalling or sexual harassment. They believed the ad emphasised playfulness and did not objectify women.
They said the ad had not received negative feedback in the Instagram comments section and believed those who saw the ad were not offended.
Assessment
Upheld
The CAP Code stated that ads must be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society, must not cause serious or widespread offence and must not include gender stereotypes that were likely to cause harm.
The ad depicted a woman wearing a short skirt and high heels, walking down the street while two male garage workers appeared to watch her. We considered phrases said by the men, such as “[…] now what are you doing here, gorgeous?” and “Hey come and take a look at this little one, something else” gave the impression that they were acutely observing the woman and commenting specifically on her physical appearance. That impression was reinforced by one scene that briefly focused on the lower half of the woman’s body, emphasising her short skirt and legs. We considered those scenes gave the impression that the men were viewing the woman as a sexual object.
We considered that the phrase “Now tell me, you wouldn’t want to have a go on that little beauty”, within the context of the men ostensibly commenting on the woman’s physical appearance, was sexual in nature. We also considered the manner in which one of the men loudly whistled would have likely been perceived by some Instagram users as ‘catcalling’, which was a form of sexual harassment. Despite the woman not looking at or engaging with the men, they continued to comment on her physical appearance, which gave the ad a voyeuristic feel and further reinforced that they viewed her as a sexual object.
We acknowledged the ad ended by revealing that the men were, in fact, observing and talking about a vintage car on the opposite side of the road and not the physical appearance of the woman. However, that reveal did not negate the impression that the woman had been viewed as a sexual object throughout most of the ad and up until that point. We considered that the reveal instead trivialised and excused the originally implied behaviour of the men. We also considered the phrase “For the things that make you go ooh” at the end of the ad was likely to be interpreted as being in relation to both the car and the physical appearance of the woman. That phrase therefore reinforced the impression that the woman had been objectified and stereotyped for her physical appearance.
Finally, we considered that the ad was likely to have the effect of objectifying a woman by using her physical appearance to draw attention to an unrelated product.
For those reasons, we considered the ad objectified women by trivialising catcalling and sexual harassment and gave the impression that their bodies were sexual objects. We therefore concluded that the ad included a harmful gender stereotype and was likely to cause serious offence.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 1.3 (Social responsibility), 4.1 and 4.9 (Harm and offence).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Auto Finesse Ltd to ensure that future ads were socially responsible and did not cause serious offence, including by featuring a harmful gender stereotype by objectifying or sexualising women.
