It gives the wrong idea ARB reject complaint over Durex's sex is fun ad

A complainant who expressed his concerns over the wording on a condom packet has had his complaint rejected by the Advertising Regulatory Board of South Africa (ARB). The organisation dismissed the grievance raised by Sithabile Ntshele, who thought that the sex is fun tagline was harmful to children.

Photo: ARBDurex and the ARB: What was the complaint?Ntshele, who came across the saucy slogan at an unnamed Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals store, reasoned that any child could read that phrase and get the wrong idea about sex.

His complaint suggested that it was insensitive, particularly towards young abuse victims forced to stay silent on the issue. However, the ARB was satisfied that Durex did nothing to cause offence:

It is apparent from the Artwork and the Tagline that there is no direct or indirect effort on Advertiser's part to infringe on the role of a parent. The Artwork contains no nudity, graphic, obscene or pornographic images. Merely the sentence sex is fun'.

The Artwork is not created in a provocative or offensive way and the small font size used in the sentence sex is fun in comparison to the general size of the Durex box is of such nature, that in its view, it is neither over dramatized nor offensive.

The reasonable consumer who views this in store will not find the Artwork as objectionable, nor that it will cause harm to children (especially children of a reading age).

ARB respond to Durex complaintAccording to the ARB, sex is fun The ARB issued a seven-page response to the complainant and deemed that the issues raised weren't enough to get it pulled from shelves. Ironically, the product has been given plenty of protection from the regulatory body.

Given that the product itself is not aimed at children, it was not construed that the packaging must be changed. The phrase sex is fun (we'll let you draw your own conclusions on its accuracy) apparently isn't enough to convince children to start buying prophylactics en masse. It seems as if condom sense has prevailed on this one.

Tags: advertisingsexualitySouth Africa

LINK:	https://www.thesouthafrican.com/offbeat-news/durex-sex-if-fun-package-...
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