Beware: You'll Know It When You See It (J424 #4)

You’re taking a walk in your neighborhood. The weather is nice, the sun shining and the air crisp from the early morning breeze. Your yellow lab is pulling at his leash and attempting to sniff and mark his territory on every bush you pass. By the house at the end of the road, you notice a new sign on the fence: “Beware Watchdog.” You hear low growls coming from behind the fence and see the hackles rise on your normally lazy-and-chill lab and promptly turn around for fear of crossing the line.

What if advertising had a global watchdog?

Australia, for example, already has mediation on advertising called the Advertising Standards Board (ASB) (Robb). Australians, however, have recently put the ASB under fire. They are complaining that it dismissed their concerns about an advertisement displaying “gratuitous nudity” of a woman (Robb). This backlash came after the ASB responded to complaints about a “racist air conditioner ad [and] violent Telco ad,” but not the sexist Rosken ad (Robb).

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The above images of the ads imply that maybe this watchdog took a day off with Rosken. The adage about pornographically constructed images is ‘I’ll know it when I see it,’ but did ASB? Australia’s advertising watchdog is a small example of advertising censorship and regulation, but if you analyze the racist/sexist/violent ads worldwide, it is apparent that the concept of a regulatory agent is necessary for globalized advertising.

As of yet, this doesn’t exist (although there are some national regulators for the UK and US). But I think it is beginning to with citizens’ involvement in social media. For example, the ASB article mentions, “the increasing power of social media is now allowing viewers to sidestep the board’s complaints process to protest against the use of nudity directly with a company” (Robb). Translation: we are the watchdogs.

You’re back in the neighborhood with your dog. You walk past the growls emitting from under the fence—you know it’s just for protection.

Some Sources:

Robb, Kirsten. "Stark raving: Viewers keep complaining about nude advertising but Ad Standards Board dismisses concerns." Smart Company . 30 Apr. 2015. Web. 5 May 2015. <http://www.smartcompany.com.au/marketing/46650-stark-raving-viewers-keep-complaining-about-nude-advertising-but-ad-standards-board-dismisses-concerns.html>.

http://rosken.com.au/images/news/print01.png