Telewest told to pull 'bloody' ad

The ASA has upheld complaints that a recent advertising campaign from cable operator Telewest Broadband telling consumers to "Stay on that bloody phone" was offensive.

In its latest adjudications bulletin, the ASA ruled that the advert, which advertised the cable operator's Talk Unlimited package, said the advertisement had an "aggressive" tone, and "were likely to cause serious or widespread offence". The Authority did however note that the expletive used was "mild".

David Hobday, sales and marketing director at Telewest Broadband said in a statement:

"The advertisement concerned was one execution of a wider campaign to promote our Talk Unlimited telephone service which, in allowing users to make unlimited national and local call for a fixed monthly fee, challenges commonly held beliefs about a household phone and how it is used. The overall campaign has been hugely successful.

"Telewest is a responsible advertiser. We sought advice from the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and were given assurances that the line 'Stay on that bloody phone' did "not appear to contravene the British Codes of Advertising and Sales Promotion."

"This industry guidance was supported by our own market research that suggested that most people would not find the word offensive in this context. We also referred to the Delete Expletives regulatory research findings of December 2000 [jointly compiled by the ITC, BBC, BSC and the ASA] and reviewed similar ASA rulings.

"We recognise that matters of taste and decency are subjective and we have written to the ASA to express our disappointment regarding the decision. Having followed good practice guidelines, we did not believe the campaign was aggressive or would cause widespread or serious offence to consumers.

"We hoped most people saw our advertising in the light-hearted spirit it was intended, if it has offended we apologise."

The operator has now pulled the advertising campaign, produced by agency Saatchi and Saatchi.