e.tv can broadcast condom ads during Scandal!, the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa rules.

Following complaints from viewers, the commercial free-to-air broadcaster e.tv is allowed to broadcast condom adverts during its prime time soap, Scandal!, the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa has ruled.

Viewers complained to the ASA about Durex condom ads from Reckitt Benckiser South Africa shown during the local prime time soap with the Durex Real Feel commercial showing a man and woman touching and kissing each other while taking their clothes off and the voiceover "Now every touch can feel more real with Durex Real Feel, our first condom with the real feeling of skin on skin" and the words "Love sex" displayed on screen.

One viewer complained and said that Scandal! on e.tv has an age restriction of 13 years older and that condom ads shouldn't be shown during the timeslot when children are watching. The complainant said that the current South African legislation recognises the age of consent for sex as 16 years and older. 

Another complainant raised similar issues.

This is the third time that e.tv viewers complained about condom commercials, following complaints in March 2012, and again in December 2016. In 2014 following viewer complaints about Lovers Plus condom ads on SABC3, the ad agency Joe Public SA agreed to move the condom ads later after the ASA ruled that it was shown during inappropriate timeslots.

In the latest case, e.tv told the ASA that the viewers' complaints  undermine efforts to educate people about HIV prevention.

e.tv told the ASA that the Broadcasting Code permits e.tv to broadcast 13 years age restricted material before the watershed period and that the content and themes of Scandal! is in line with the commercial, and that in terms of the Children's Act of 2005 and the Sexual Offences Related Matters Amendment Act of 2007, adolescents above the age of 12 can have access to contraceptives and HIV testing without the need for parental approval.

Reckitt Benckiser South Africa argued that Scandal! on e.tv frequently deals with romantic affairs and the advertisement of this kind would be in line with the themes usually dealt with on the show. The ASA agreed.

"A parent who is allowing their child to watch Scandal! cannot then be outraged when the child is exposed to sexual content or references. It can be assumed that a child of over 13, who is allowed to watch content such as Scandal!, should have been exposed to appropriate sexual education to be able to understand the commercial before us," the ASA ruled.

"In addition, they should be watching in the company of an adult who is able to explain the content to them if they are confused or disturbed. The Directorate is satisfied that there is nothing in the commercial that would adversely affect a child of over 13."

"While true that the commercial promotes a product that is intimately related to sex, it does not do so in an uncouth or overtly sexual manner. The visuals used are not unlike images frequently seen on soapies or in fashion magazines, and is not 'explicit' as suggested by the complainants."

Advertising Standards Authority says no to early ejaculation and weak erections commercials on South African television before 9pm.

The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) has ruled that early ejaculation and weak erections commercials should only be shown after 21:00 on South African television, saying adverts for male sexual health containing these words can't be shown during the day or at 20:00.

Viewer Marcus Govender complained to the ASA, saying his kids aged 8 and 10 watched soccer - sports programming with no age restriction - and saw TV commercials that contained sexual suggestions and innuendos during football games. In his complaint he argued that adverts from Men’s Clinic International shouldn't be shown before and during soccer games.

Men’s Clinic International told the ASA that it has two sets of commercials that is broadcast during daytime and during the night on South African television - before 20:00 and after 20:00. The night commercials specifically mentions "weak erections", "early ejaculations" and "low libido", while the daytime commercials from Men's Clinic International do not contain these words.

Men’s Clinic International told the ASA that it disagrees with the viewer over football viewership and said soccer, shown by SuperSport on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform, is "predominantly watched by people over the age of 18".

The ASA directorate ruled that Men’s Clinic International "should flight its night commercials after 21:00, in appropriate programming, so as to avoid young children viewing those commercials".

The ASA directorate said the subtle sexual innuendo in Men’s Clinic International's "day" commercials "would only be understood by an adult who is already familiar with such innuendo. The execution contains no explicit scenes‚ nudity or overt references to sex".

Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) orders SABC to remove its sexist Only Your Man Can Pay Your SABC TV licence advert (because women can't manage).

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ordered the SABC to immediately take a sexist (Only Your Man Can) Pay Your SABC TV licence advert off the air that suggests that only men can pay SABC TV licence fees since women apparently can't manage.

Jesse Kaplain complained to the ASA about a SABC TV Licence commercial on the public broadcaster's commercial radio station 5FM that she found extremely sexist.

The ad told listeners that "Luckily you now no longer have to subject the man in your life to the horrors of a shopping mall when TV licence payment time comes around. The new site let him pay from cellphone, tablet or laptop wherever he may be even from the comfort of the couch, while you get to follow the sound of those heels calling your name. Seems fair‚ doesn't it? The new TV licence website - quick‚ convenient‚ secure".

Kaplan told the ASA in her complaints that women are self-sufficient, can pay their own bills and that men are not needed to do that.

The ASA agreed with the complainant and said "in essence, the complainant found the advertising sexist and gender stereotyping", saying that the commercial "makes reference to men hating malls, but now the men can stay at home and can pay while a woman just goes shopping for pretty shoes. Because clearly she has nothing else to do and he's the bread winner and makes all the important decisions and payments in life."

The ASA ruled that "The storyline of the commercial is reliant on an assumption that the man has to pay the TV licence. Previously, he would have had to go to the mall to do so, and his female partner would have had to persuade him to do this."

"Now, he can sit on the couch and pay it. But either way, the man has to pay the TV licence. The idea that the woman could have simply paid the licence while she was at the mall is not entertained. The communication is, as the complainant highlights, dependent on an assumption that women are financially or mentally incapable of paying the TV licence if a man is around to do the job."

The ASA that that what it finds "untenable is not the humorous stereotyping of the genders, but the underlying assumptions regarding the role and ability of each gender."

The ASA ordered the SABC to withdrew its SABC TV licence fee ad with immediate effect and not to use it again in future.

Advertising Standards Authority slams MultiChoice for promoting old shows as 'brand new'; orders DStv to stop misleading claims over old content.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ordered MultiChoice to stop telling DStv subscribers a TV show is new when recycled shows pushed to other DStv channels are actually old.

The ASA found in favour of a DStv subscriber who complained that DStv was describing the American sitcom Mom as new "when it was old content that is being repeated for the umpteenth time" on Naspers' satellite pay-TV service.

The ASA ordered MultiChoice to withdraw the claim that Mom, starting its 3rd season on is new.

DStv subscriber Alison Job lodged a complaint against DStv at the Advertising Standards Authority that a "so-called brand new series of Doc Martin" on ITV Choice (DStv 123) was also old and recycled TV content.

MultiChoice in its defense argued that the ASA "does not have jurisdiction over this complaint as it relates to programming publicity" and that the "promos were not misleading".

MultiChoice also argued that Mom was previously only shown on M-Net (DStv 101) and that the on-air promo on DStv was announcing that Mom was coming to Viacom International Media Networks Africa's Comedy Central (DStv 122) channel for the first time.

Because the 3rd season of Mom was on Comedy Central for the first time and because DStv subscribers who don't have access to M-Net as a DStv Premium subscription channel, MultiChoice said Mom was indeed "brand new" to these subscribers.

The ASA in its ruling slammed MultiChoice and said that "one would not expect the label 'brand new' to be applied to a show that has been available in South Africa since 2013".

"In the second place‚ the claim makes no reference to the channel. The words 'only on [Comedy Central]' further aggravate the matter," the ASA found.

"By making this statement, the implication is that this is the only channel to ever air this 'brand new' season."

"In fact‚ these old seasons have been aired on at least one other channel‚ if not more. They are also‚ most likely‚ available as DVDs," the ASA said.

The ASA found that the MultiChoice claim "Mom 3 brand new season, Tuesday only on Comedy Central" is misleading.

The ASA said said MultiChoice isn't allowed to make misleading claims in programming publicity.

O Sole Mio! MultiChoice's DStv is available 'everywhere' - just not in Italy.

MultiChoice's DStv is available "everywhere" ... just not in Italy - and that is just not right according to a consumer who complained to the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (Asasa).

A consumer Manlio Molino lodged a complaint with Advertising Standards Authority because MultiChoice advertised that on DStv you can "enjoy your favourite TV programs anytime, anywhere, stream live TV, and stay up to date with the biggest shows on Catch Up".

Molino was upset and lodged a complaint with Asasa over MultiChoice's "Enjoy your favourite TV programs anytime, anywhere" claim and said the advertising is misleading as he could not access the service whilst in Italy.

He wanted to stream and watch soccer while in Italy and was told that the service is not available.

MultiChoice told the Advertising Standards Authority that the "anywhere" claim in regards to its "DStv Now" product is actually meant in relation to DStv subscribers who are interested in receiving DStv services in different devices other than decoder and a television.

MultiChoice said that the phrase "Anytime, Anywhere” refers to convenience rather than geographic location. In other words, subscribers who have access to "DStv Now" may access DStv anywhere outside their homes.

The Asasa directorate was divided on the matter. The minority of the directorate thought that in this day and age, with the internet and live streaming, it is not unreasonable to expect to be able to live stream or access a service globally, and that the DStv commercial should have been more clear on this issue.

The majority of the directorate however didn't consider the matter misleading. The majority felt that the hypothetical reasonable consumer would understand that licencing laws would limit international dissemination of content.

Therefore Asasa found that the commercial contains no content that suggests that the word "anywhere" applies to the whole world and the complaint was dismissed.

MultiChoice agrees not to advertise films that it doesn't have available on its DStv BoxOffice service.

MultiChoice has agreed not to broadcast one of its TV commercials on DStv again - an advert touting its DStv BoxOffice service - with films that it doesn't actually have available on its video-on-demand service.

It comes after a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) earlier this year that MultiChoice was showing a DStv BoxOffice commercial that included the names of four films - Hidden Figures, Hacksaw Ridge, La La Land and Moonlight - as well as the number of Oscar nominations and "wins" the films received, and the claim "BoxOffice by DStv has the gold" at the end.

Geoffrey Skelton lodged a consumer complaint against MultiChoice's DStv BoxOffice and said that MultiChoice's TV commercial was designed to mislead the public into believing that these films are currently available to view on DStv BoxOffice, "when in fact none of these films are available to view".

MultiChoice in its defence told the ASA that "the  advertisement promotes the types of films that a subscriber can expect from DStv BoxOffice, and took advantage of the recent Oscar Awards and the films that either were nominated or won awards".

MultiChoice denied that the advertisement was designed or intended to mislead the public, but agreed that its message may be misleading, apologised, and said it won't repeat the advertisement in the same format.

The ASA directorate said that where an advertiser provides an unequivocal undertaking to withdraw or amend its advertising in a manner that addresses the concerns raised, the undertaking may, at the discretion of the ASA, be accepted without considering the merits of the matter.

MultiChoice's "undertaking appears to address the complainant’s concerns and there is therefore no need to consider the merits of the matter at this time".

Sexually suggestive ShowMax TV commercial reported to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for being broadcast before the watershed time period.

A sexually suggestive TV commercial from ShowMax has been reported to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after a complaint that it’s broadcast during the day when it’s inappropriate for children.

The ASA is still to judge on the matter; the first advertising complaint about the ShowMax video-on-demand (VOD) streaming service.

The ShowMax TV commercial that started in August revolves around an almost naked man gyrating in front of a woman when a child walks in. It’s broadcast in South Africa in the afternoon before the so-called “watershed” cut-off period of 20:00 before which more risque TV content is not allowed due to the likelihood that children are watching.  

According to the complaint, "the advertisement appears during day programming and is unsuitable for the timeslots when it appears".

ShowMax says if the "ShowMax dad ad" is deemed unsuitable "then surely we need a wholesale rethink on what else makes it on to daytime TV".

"The irony is if one were watching ShowMax there wouldn't be any ads and you could activate the kids profile and know 100% that nobody is going to stumble across anything they shouldn't".

Naspers' ShowMax that turned one year old in mid-August and changed its logo, introduced the option for various profiles to filter content for children at the beginning of August. Competitor PCCW Global's ONTAPtv.com will turn one year old on 16 September.

Ad agency Joe Public SA moves inappropriate Lovers Plus condom TV commercials on SABC to later timeslots and out of family viewing.

The ad agency Joe Public SA has agreed to move inappropriate Lovers Plus condom TV adverts shown in South Africa on the SABC to later timeslots outside of family viewing following a complaint to the Advertising Standards Autority of South Africa (ASA).

Joe Public SA agreed that the Lovers Plus TV commercials for the cheap condom range which have been shown on SABC3 will be moved to later and other timeslots outside of family viewing.

It follows a complaint by Clint White that the condom adverts which SABC3 showed during the morning and afternoon was inappropriate to show during family viewing timeslots.

Clint White told the ASA in his complaint that his 6 year old children saw the condom commercials during what is supposed to be family viewing.

It led to uncomfortable questions, following the Lovers Plus commercial in which a couple is seen in their underwear on a table, has a condom fall out, and is then seen jumping in under a blanket.

"The respondent has confirmed that it agrees with the SABC's approach to only flight this commercial in programming that is not likely to reach a young audience, and that it would ensure that this approach is followed going forward," says the ASA.

"The ASA is satisfied that the undertaking to ensure that the commercial is henceforth only scheduled during appropriate, mature programming is an adequate resolution to the matter."

TopTV's 100% rerun movie channels are still separate TV channels even though they're exact repeat programming, rules the ASA.

TopTV's separate, yet rerun movie channels are still separate and individual TV channels and can be counted as such, even though the content is 100% rebroadcasts.

The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) said in a ruling following a complaint, that TopTV can count its separate time-shifted TV channels as separate channels on its bouquet offering, even though the content remains exactly the same.

While MultiChoice has no time-shifted TV channels on its DStv bouquet, TopTV has some of these so called time-shifted channels with "+1", "+2", "+12+ and "+24" channels which are very common on pay-TV platforms around the world. The exact same line-up of programming as on an original channel would always start one hour later, two hours later, or 12 or 24 hours later on these channels.

On Digital has the Top Movies +2 (TopTV 101) and Top Movies +24 (TopTV 102) channels on the TopTV platform. On these channels movies always start 2 hours later and 24 hours later than on the original Top Movies (TopTV 100) channel.

The ASA received a complaint saying that TopTV advertising 9 movie channels are misleading since the Top Movies +2 and the Top Movies +24 channels are merely duplicates.

In ad advert headlined "Take a defining journey with 9 movie channels on TopTV" TopTV also advertised Top One (TopTV 150) as a movie channel and not a general entertainment channel. TopTV admitted that this was a mistake.

The TopTV ad also included Star Gold as a movie channel, but that channel is only available on a separate subscription to the Indian TopTV bouquet. TopTV admitted that the advert was incorrect.

The ASA asked South Africa's National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) for help and clarification regarding the time-shifted channels issue.

The ASA said in its ruling that the channels, although duplicates, are separate channels, since a subscriber would be seeing, at any given point in time, different movies on the various time-shifted channels.

"While the Directorate accepts that the complainant would have preferred three distinctly different TV channels with different content, the opinion from the NAB appears to suggest that this is a common practice," the ASA says in the ruling.

"The Directorate also accepts that this would ... potentially allow subscribers who were not able to record it, to still see their preferred movie, only at a different time or date."

BREAKING. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) rules M-Net is not guilty of deceitful advertising over the prize for MasterChef South Africa.

The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) has ruled that M-Net's wasn't deceitful in the pay-TV channel's advertising and marketing of the controversial prize for the winner of the the first season of MasterChef South Africa which heavily hyped that the winner would receive "over R8 million worth of prizes" and "his or her own restaurant".

After receiving a complaint following public uproar when it became clear that the MasterChef South Africa winner Deena Naidoo won't be actually "getting" his own restaurant but only the use of it for a period of time, the ASA said that M-Net's likely viewers would be able to appreciate that "one does not actually 'own' any part of a complex like Montecasino ... but rents floor space from the building owners".

The ASA directorate dismissed the complaints and said that "a hypothetical, reasonable person would not expect the winner to own the physical structure in the sense that the building which houses the restaurant would be theirs too".

Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to rule soon on whether M-Net's advertising of the prize for MasterChef South Africa was misleading or not.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is set to make a ruling on whether the advertising of the prizes for the winner of M-Net's reality show MasterChef South Africa was misleading or not.

M-Net gave the winner of MasterChef SA the use of a Tsogo Sun restaurant for a period of time. M-Net advertised that the winner will receive "cash, a car, a trip to Italy, a sommelier course, one-on-one master classes from an award-winning cellar master, wine and a first for local reality shows: his or her very own restaurant!"

The ASA received a complaint after the conclusion of the show, with the complainant arguing that the perception was created that the winner of MasterChef South Africa would win a restaurant in the sense of owning it.

The ASA's dispute resolutions unit has heard from M-Net through the pay-TV operator's lawyers and arguments made by Tsogo Sun and M-Net is being considered by the ASA directorate. According to the ASA a ruling would be released in due course.

Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) awaits a response from M-Net after complaint regarding alleged misleading MasterChef SA prize.

The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) expects to receive a response today from M-Net after a complaint was laid with the ASA regarding the alleged misleading promotion of the prize for the winner of M-Net's reality show MasterChef SA.

ALSO READ: M-Net in new metamedia firestorm as MasterChef SA scandal now involves The Citizen newspaper and Radio 702.

Farzana Omar from the ASA'a dispute resolutions unit says the ASA is awaiting a response from Webber Wentzel, the law firm acting on behalf of M-Net by the end of today. It follows a complaint which the ASA received alleging misleading advertising of the prize the winner of MasterChef South Africa would receive, The Citizen reports.

The Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) has meanwhile also been dragged into the furore which erupted in June. The Citizen newspaper laid a complaint with the BCCSA alleging unfair comments on Radio 702 regarding articles The Citizen wrote about the MasterChef SA prizes.