The Advertising Standards Authority has rejected complaints made against a life insurer’s advert that featured a man being attacked by a monster while he sat in the bath.
A total of 102 complainants challenged whether an advert for Beagle Street life insurance was suitable for broadcast at a time when children might be watching.
The television advert showed a man reading a newspaper in the bath when a monster appeared with him and growled, accompanied by the sound of thunder.
The monster pointed and laughed uncontrollably at the man as he squirted water at him and threw a rubber duck at his face.
The voice-over stated, “Life insurance can be a bit of a nightmare” and the man jumped out of the bath and turned to face the monster who was wheezing.
The creature was then shown to explode with a squelch noise and, in doing so, covered the man in feathers.
It then turned into a smaller, less menacing creature with large eyes, who went on to offer the man a back rub. The voice-over continued, “For life insurance reborn, go to Beaglestreet.com”.
The advert was only on at times when children were not expected to be watching television, which meant it should not be shown in or around programmes made for, or specifically targeted at, youngsters.
A significant number of the complainants commented that their children or grandchildren, the majority of whom were between two and seven years of age, had been distressed after seeing the advert.
BGL Direct Life Ltd stated the monster character was intended to represent the nightmare of buying life insurance, but was transformed into a new, friendly character.
The insurer stated it was not meant to be scary or distressing, and was instead intended to explain the difference between traditional life insurance and Beagle Street in a humorous and light-hearted manner.
The Advertising Standards Authority said while many child viewers could be made to jump by the appearance of the monster, as the advert progressed it was clear that the man was in no way either afraid of or threatened by the monster.
In addition, the ASA stated that as the monster exploded, with corresponding comedic sound effects, the advert took on a more light-hearted and humorous tone, and in the final scenes the monster was shown transformed into a smaller and more friendly version of its previous self.
A spokesman for the ASA stated: “While we acknowledged that some younger children had found the ad unsettling, we considered that on balance, given the reaction of the man and the comedic elements, the ex-kids restriction was nonetheless sufficient.
“Therefore we concluded that the ad had been given an appropriate scheduling restriction and was not in breach of the code.”
