Helen Pearce is just going to have to put up with being called a slapper, the Advertising Standards Complaints Board has ruled.
The insult is made in a Tip Top Ice Cream advertisement for Choc Bars. A receptionist at a large office, having missed her chocolate fix, announces over the publicaddress system "Helen Pearce is a slapper. Helen Pearce is a horrible slapper."
Light humour for most people, advertising agency Colenso contended.
Not so, Helen Pearce countered.
In fact two different Helen Pearces -- each of whom had had to explain to their children that they weren't "horrible slappers" -- complained to the authority that the advertisement wasn't funny at all.
"I really don't appreciate the advert's wording... and I wonder how long I'm going to have to live with being called a 'horrible slapper'," one Helen Pearce lamented.
While the board noted it was unfortunate each complainant had been offended by the advertisement, the name had been chosen at random without any intent to refer to a real person.
The board ruled it would be unrealistic to insist on the use of Mr or Mrs X in advertisements and other situations where the use of names was required, and was of the view the ad did not cause serious or widespread offence.
