A complaint about an ‘inappropriate’ Telstra ad featuring a snowman, a ‘firm’ carrot and two kangaroos has been dismissed by the advertising watchdog.
The advertisement promoting Telstra’s mobile coverage in the Mt Buller ski resort 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.
Telstra denied the advertisement breached community standards or guidelines.
In its rebuttal to the complaint 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.
‘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 to be without them would be considered ‘nude.’
Watchdog Ad Standards agreed and dismissed the complaint.
An Ad Standards spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia it accepted the ad was suggestive but not offensively so.
‘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.
