An ‘inappropriate’ Telstra ad featuring a snowman, a ‘firm’ carrot and two kangaroos has been cleared by the advertising watchdog.
A complaint about the advertisement promoting Telstra’s mobile coverage in the Mt Buller ski resort village in eastern Victoria was lodged with Ad Standards.
The controversial ad featured two animated kangaroos building a snowman.
As the older kangaroo spoke about the benefits of Telstra, the young kangaroo placed a carrot in the genital area of the snowman.
The older kangaroo noticed this and moved the carrot to the correct nose position.
The complaint to Ad Standards claimed the Telstra ad contained ‘inappropriate content and placement insinuating a penis as a carrot.’
The complaint claimed the ad breached section 2.4 – Sex, Sexuality and Nudity of the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) Code of Ethics.
The advertisement had received a ‘G’ rating from the ClearAds service that provides a review for compliance, and was able to be broadcast any time of the day.
The complaint to advertising watchdog Ad Standards claimed the Telstra ad contained ‘inappropriate content and placement insinuating a penis as a carrot’
In the ad the older kangaroo noticed the carrot was in the wrong position and moved it to the correct nose position
Telstra denied the advertisement breached community standards or guidelines.
In its rebuttal to Ad Standards, Telstra stated: ‘There is nothing that suggests the capacity to experience and express sexual desire.’
‘There is no suggestion the snowman is sentient or that the carrot is placed in a sexual region to indicate a response to some sexual external stimulus.’
‘Further, concluding that the use of a carrot is as a proxy for an erect penis and suggesting of sexual desire would be unreasonable.
Telstra denied the advertisement breached community standards or guidelines, ‘There is nothing that suggests the capacity to experience and express sexual desire.’
‘A carrot is inherently firm with a generally straight, cylindrical shape.’
‘It is also commonly used as a nose on a snowman, as the advertisement finally shows.’
On the alleged nudity breach, Telstra stated: ‘The advertisement does not contain humans or live creatures, and neither snowmen nor Kangaroos ordinarily ‘wear clothes’ such that either of their appearances are ‘nude.’
Watchdog Ad Standards agreed and dismissed the complaint.
An Ad Standards spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia: ‘The Ad Standards Community Panel determined that the ad did not breach the AANA Code of Ethics.’
‘While the Panel acknowledged the mild sexual innuendo associated with the placement of the carrot, they considered the ad to be light-hearted, humorous and not inappropriate for the relevant broad audience.
A Telstra spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia, ‘We’re glad it was seen for what it was – a bit of fun.’
In a Reddit post about the Telstra ad, commenters accused the complainant of overreacting.
‘Seems more like a bored person at home all day who professionally complains,’ one wrote.
‘Those that actually f*cking whinge about this innocuous sh*t to the point of formally complaining are just sad, umbrella parents needing means to be grouchy,’ another wrote.
