Advertisment
The advertisements were a radio advertisement and an advertisement on YouTube.
The radio advertisement featured first a female voiceover with what sounded like a Dublin accent. The voiceover was that of a teacher or instructor character holding what was titled a ‘burglar bootcamp’. They were instructing a group in how to effectively burgle houses. This character was implied to be a career criminal as they say that they had installed the alarm system ‘purely for research purposes.’ A second voiceover with a notably different accent appears towards the end of the advertisement. They said, ‘get the alarm burglars fear the most’ and, further, outlined the price and other terms.
The YouTube advertisement again featured the burglar instructor character. It started with them saying ‘On today’s edition of burglar bootcamp, the PhoneWatch alarm app’. This character then pulled a balaclava over their face and proceeded to outline the benefits of the app. A voiceover at the end of the advertisement, again with a notably different accent, said, ‘get the alarms burglars fear the most’.
Complaint
Two complaints were received regarding the PhoneWatch campaign: one concerning the radio advertisement and the other against the YouTube advertisement.
The complaint against the radio advertisement had considered that the advertisement was offensive as they said it had deliberately contrasted the accent of the burglar character with a more supposedly respectable one towards the end of the advertisement. The complainant considered that the accent of the burglar character was offensive as it equated a North Dublin/ Working class Dublin accent with criminality and perpetuated stereotypes against people with certain accents.
The complaint against the YouTube advertisement claimed that the content of the advertisement was an example of ‘accentism’. Accentism being a form of classism and socio-economic discrimination according to the complainant. The complainant also considered that the accent of the burglar character was offensive as it equated an accent with criminality and perpetuated stereotypes against people with certain accents.
Response
The advertisers said that they strongly believe in the ASA and have measures in place to promote equality and diversity in their hiring practices and marketing materials.
They said that they worked with an advertising agency to create character briefs for the advertising campaign and that they were conscious of avoiding stereotypes, especially those of a socio-demographic nature. They said that when the initial script was sent for approval to a broadcaster, they were reminded to avoid the use of stereotypes. As a result of this feedback, they said that they hired a diverse cast for their main 30 second and 6 second adverts.
From their desk research, they said they established that the stereotypical burglar type was male . Based on this they had specifically cast a woman in deliberate opposition to a stereotype. They said that they had long conversations about what accent this character should have and were mindful of the potential for causing offence in this choice. In the end they said the settled on the actress’s own accent, which she herself described as an ‘every-woman’ accent. They said the actress was from Dublin and her accent would have been from a region that contains 40% of the Irish population .
The advertisers pointed to the sets, script, and performances as argument towards the comedic nature of the piece. They also argued that the concept of a ‘burglar bootcamp’ was a patently ridiculous concept and as such could not be said to be likely to cause offence.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
The ASA Executive undertook desktop research and noted recent crime rates for Ireland according to the CSO (2022). The data for ‘recorded crime……region’ evidenced that reported crimes for the Dublin Metropolitan region were circa minimum 1.5 times the three other country regions. Source https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-rcd/recordedcrimedetection2022/regionalanalysis/
Conclusion
Complaints Not Upheld.
The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaints and the advertisers’ response. They noted the advertisers’ commitment to diversity and inclusion and their efforts to resist hurtful stereotypes in their advertising.
The Committee while noting the grounds of complaint, generally considered that a person’s accent was not necessarily representative of any degree of respectability in itself. In the context of both advertisements, the Committee determined that selecting any voiceover accent that could be geographically identified conferred neither a positive nor a negative prejudice towards those from the place of the accent’s origins.
The Committee noted that a female, playing the burglar role, spoke using her natural accent. The Committee accepted the submission made that the accent concerned would be broadly reflective of a large proportion of the population. They concluded therefore that it was quite reasonable to feature an actress with this accent.
The Committee considered that the advertisements were clearly humorous in their intent as a ‘burglar boot camp’ was a patently fanciful concept and, as such, it could not be said to be making any judgment on the character of those with a broadly similar geographical accent.
Notwithstanding all of the above, and in addition to commentary in the response, the Committee noted the research (under ‘Further Information) that reported crime per head of population was proportionally higher in the Dublin Metropolitan region compared to the country’s other designated regions.
In light of all of these factors, the Committee did not consider that the advertisements were in breach of the Code on the grounds suggested in the two complaints.
ACTION REQUIRED:
No further action required.
