The Advertising Standards Authority, or ASA, received a complaint regarding an advert for Android/iOS game Mobile Strike, the complaint claiming that the advert objectifies women, and the advert was subsequently banned as a result.
The ASA website explains that developer Machine Zone said that it wasn't about the bodies of the women: "Machine Zone Inc explained that their mobile app game Mobile Strike, was a modern military-themed combat game where players could battle against other players [...] They believed the juxtaposition between what people normally did by the pool (i.e. relax and lounge) with the visuals of the players battling it out with jets and tanks was what made the ad so striking. That theme was used in other ads for the game - for example, players battling one another in cafes, restaurants and the launderette. The intention was to show that the Mobile Strike game could liven up a player's time spent in everyday, sometimes boring, spaces."
"They did not believe the ad objectified women. They said that because of the setting, the women were wearing bathing suits. The intention was to feature "real-sized" women and reference mythical warrior women like Amazons and "Wonder Woman", as the women were seen making strategic moves in battle against one another. They said they had concerns that the complainant's objection was the size of the women featured rather than what they were wearing or doing in the ad. They suspected that had the women been typically thin models seen in ads, it was unlikely that a complaint would have been made. They had decided to feature "real-sized women" as a nod to their diverse player base."
Machine Zone also said that the advert had been live for many months, and that players had supported it. ASA also admitted that it didn't violate YouTube's community guidelines of policies on advertising, however, that didn't mean that they themselves don't take issue with it, as they have banned it.
"The ASA noted that the images of the women wearing swimwear bore no relation to the product being advertised - a combat-themed mobile game app," the ASA continues. "We also noted that in some of the scenes, the mannerisms of the women were seductive or sexually-charged. For example, in one scene, a woman wearing a thong bikini was seen walking towards a sun lounger and the camera angle was taken from below and behind so that as she walked into the scene, only her legs and her thong bikini bottoms were in view. We noted that another scene featuring one of the women wearing a swimsuit was shot in slow motion, and the emphasis was on her body rather than the mobile game app she was playing. One of the camera angles was shot side-on which highlighted her waist and chest. As she approached the camera, she flicked her hair back, stopped and looked seductively into the camera. We noted that the ad featured plus-sized models but we considered that fact was irrelevant. For those reasons, we considered that the ad objectified women and was therefore offensive."
What are your thoughts on the advert and its offensiveness?