Ad description
An in-game ad for the mobile app game Match Tile Scenery ? Matchscapes, was seen in the mobile app game Puzzle Page – Daily Puzzles! on 30 November 2022. The ad included an animated image of a female character, who appeared to be naked whilst posing with one hand on her hip, and was partially covered by tiles with animated images on them. An on-screen hand removed some of the tiles to reveal more of the woman. The ad included text that stated, “Can you do better?”.
Issue
The complainant, who believed the ad sexualised and objectified women, challenged whether the ad was offensive and irresponsible.
Response
Jiliang Gao t/a Match Tile Scenery – Matchscapes did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries.AppyNation, the developers of the game in which the ad was seen, said that they worked with ad networks to try to ensure that all ads shown in their games were appropriate for their users. Because their games were targeted at a broad audience, they asked ad networks to screen out any ads for categories they considered were inappropriate for broad audiences, including gambling, politics, sex, alcohol and medicines.
In this case, the advertised game appeared to be a puzzle game that would ordinarily have had broad appeal; however, the advertiser chose to advertise it with suggestive imagery. They said that when they found ads like this in their games, they spoke to the ad networks to have them removed.
They worked with a number of ad networks, some of whom sold their inventory through auctions to a great number of other agencies. As such, without further information, they were unable to confirm which network had served the ad.
They confirmed that they had not received any complaints about the ad. They understood that the ad appeared only very briefly before it was removed, probably by the ad network.
Assessment
The ASA was concerned by Jiliang Gao t/a Match Tile Scenery – Matchscapes lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told them to do so in future.
Upheld
The ad depicted an animation of a female character who appeared to be naked, partially covered by tiles with animated images on them. The ad showed an on-screen hand select certain puzzle tiles and implied that they would reveal more of the naked female character. The ad included text that stated “Can you do better?”.
The ASA considered that, because of the character’s partial nudity and the implication that the aim of the game was to expose her fully, the ad objectified women by presenting them as sexual objects for the sole purpose of titillating viewers.
Because we considered the ad was objectifying, we further considered it was likely to cause serious and widespread offence and included a gender stereotype in a way that was likely to cause harm. We therefore concluded that the ad was irresponsible and breached the Code.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 1.3, 4.1 and 4.9 (Harm and offence).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Jiliang Gao t/a Match Tile Scenery – Matchscapes to ensure their ads were socially responsible and did not cause serious or widespread offence, including by featuring a harmful gender stereotype by sexualising and objectifying women. We referred the matter to the CAP Compliance Team.
