Why the SABC has to take down its latest TV license advert
The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) has ordered the SABC to withdraw a radio advert after finding that it was offensive in the way it portrayed gender stereotypes.
The woman’s voice-over in the commercial states:
“They make fire, they can braai in their sleep, they down a can of beer in a single gulp and still have a room in their heart…But did you know that on average…men find shopping centre more traumatic than moving or divorce. Luckily you now no longer have to subject the man in your life to the horrors of a shopping mall when TV licence payment time comes around. The new tvlic.co.za let him pay from Cellphone, Tablet or Laptop wherever he may be even from the comfort of the couch, while you get to follow the sound of those heels calling your name. Seems fair doesn’t it. The new TV licence website, quick, convenient, secure.”
Ms Kaplan, who lodged the complaint, said that she felt that the advertising was sexist and gender stereotyping.
This is because it implies that a woman has nothing else to do except shop, and that a man is a breadwinner and makes important decisions and payments in life.
In its decision the ASA had to weigh up the use of gender stereotyping (a common theme in advertising) and whether it impacted issues of gender equality.
In particular, the ASA noted that gender discussions are currently topical and important, and that there has been an international trend towards more thoughtful treatment of gender stereotyping in advertising regulation as evidence of this.
However, it also recognised that certain gender stereotypes that ‘are over the top’, would not be taken literally and are intended to be humorous.
“This commercial takes a further, clumsy step in the execution,” the ASA said.
“The storyline of the commercial is reliant on an assumption that the man has to pay the TV licence. Previously, he would have had to go to the mall to do so, and his female partner would have had to persuade him to do this. Now, he can sit on the couch and pay it. But either way, the man has to pay the TV licence.
“The idea that the woman could have simply paid the licence while she was at the mall is not entertained. The communication is, as the Complainant highlights, dependant on an assumption that women are financially or mentally incapable of paying the TV licence if a man is around to do the job,” it said.
It therefore found that the advert was in breach of its code of conduct and ordered that the commercial be withdrawn with immediate effect.
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