And Finally Business News Media

Advertising Standards Authority rejects complaints over Radio X ad

By | Published on Thursday 28 January 2016

Chris Moyles Radio X

If you thought that advert for Radio X last year which saw Chris Moyles walking down the street bumping into various people was offensive, well you can fuck off.

It was clearly a fucking parody of the fucking video for The Verve’s ‘Bittersweet fucking Symphony’ which fucking soundtracked the fucking thing, and you should all get yourself a fucking sense of humour. Not my words ladies and gentlemen. The words of the United Kingdom’s Advertising Standards Authority. Well, my words. Its sentiment.

106 people complained about the Moyles ad, and not because they were offended that a rebranded Xfm thought it was a good idea to bring the veteran broadcasting ego back to the airwaves, but because they “believed it encouraged and condoned anti-social and violent behaviour”. I mean, he bumped into man holding coffee, someone in a costume, and a paramedic pushing someone on a stretcher. What a git. What if a child saw such outrageous misbehaviour on their telly screens?

But, said Radio X owner and Chris Moyles facilitator Global Radio, “the ad was a parody of The Verve’s iconic music video for the song ‘Bittersweet Symphony’, which [we] believed would have been recognisable to the majority of viewers”. And it was all just a “humorous play on Chris Moyles’ reputation” and “his determination to return to radio”. And let’s not forget, “scenarios, which included a charity worker dressed in a giant rabbit costume and a lady inexplicably holding a wedding cake in the street, were executed carefully to ensure a comical, and slightly surreal, tone”.

Yeah, all you 106 complainers, what about the comical and slightly surreal tone? As for anyone playing the “won’t somebody think about the children” card, Global would like to point out that “slapstick humour, such as that shown in the ad, is common in children’s programmes and family films”. And anyway, the ad was never shown during kid’s shows. Because Radio X, let us not forget, is the radio station for MEN. Not boys.

And so, says the ASA, “we understood the complainants’ concerns about the behaviour shown in the ad and we acknowledged Global’s intention to parody what they believed to be a well-recognised and iconic music video. Although we noted the ad used ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ as its soundtrack, we considered that some viewers were still unlikely to recognise the parody element of the ad.”

The regulator went on: “We considered the scenario in which [Moyles] found himself was likely to be seen as surreal and far removed from the mix of people many were likely to encounter when walking down a street. We acknowledged that his actions in the ad were likely to be seen as unpleasant, but we considered that the context in which it was shown meant viewers were unlikely to interpret it as realistic and as an acceptable way to behave”.

So, “in the particular circumstances of the ad, we concluded it was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence or be seen to encourage or condone anti-social behaviour or bullying”.

So fuck off complainers. If you still have a problem, take it up with Richard Ashcroft will you?



READ MORE ABOUT: | | |