Ad description
A post on The George Pub and Grill’s Facebook page seen on 15 May 2017 stated, “WOULD YOU PUNCH YOUR EX IN THE FACE FOR A PARMO?”.
Issue
The complainant, who believed that the ad trivialised and encouraged domestic violence, challenged whether the ad was offensive and socially irresponsible.
Response
The George Pub and Grill did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries.
Assessment
The ASA was concerned by The George Pub and Grill’s 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 the future.
Upheld
The ASA considered that the phrase “Punch your ex in the face” referred to domestic violence and was likely to cause serious offence. We considered that referring to domestic violence in an advert for a fast food dish trivialised and condoned domestic violence and concluded that the ad was not prepared in a socially responsible manner.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 1.3 (Social responsibility), 4.1 and 4.4 (Harm and offence).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told The George Pub and Grill not to trivialise or condone domestic violence in its advertising. We referred the matter to the CAP compliance team.
