A CIDER advertisement has been withdrawn following complaints that it was offensive and appeared to condone violence against women.
The advertisement for Scrumpy Jack cider showed an apple with a teardrop and a caption saying: "She was sweet, tender and juicy so we flattened her."
The complainants, according to the industry watchdog, the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland, considered it to be "deeply offensive" as, by using the female pronoun, it appeared to validate violence against women. Some complaints referred to the association of alcohol and violence, especially as the message appeared to be directed at young men.
The advertisers had claimed the poster showed an apple, and it was obvious the copy referred to cider making, in which the maker picked apples, which were "sweet, tender and juicy and they extract the juices".
According to the ASAI report, the advertisers did not think it was sexist. They told the authority: "In fact, when the idea was conceived the apple was originally described as a male until it was pointed out that apples, technically, are female."
In testing, they said, both men and women enjoyed the obvious humour of the advertisement.
The Scrumpy Jack advertisement was created by the O'Connor O'Sullivan agency for Beamish & Crawford. It appeared on billboards.
The ASAI upheld the complaint, saying the code of standards insisted advertisements contained nothing that condoned or was likely to provoke violence. Advertising should also respect the principle of the equality of men and women.
The company then agreed to withdraw the advertisement.
"The complaints committee was concerned that, at a time when violence against women is on the increase, an advertisement could convey a message that could be interpreted as gratuitously condoning such violence."
The ASAI also upheld a complaint against Levi jeans as it was shown during the matinee performances of Toy Story in Cinema World, Douglas, Co Cork, and Sense and Sensibility at the Capital Cineplex, Cork. The complainant thought it inappropriate to screen the advertisement to mainly child audiences.
Levi agreed that its "washroom" advertisement should have been removed for the two performances. The company told the ASAI that, subject to decisions of the film censor, the standard practice was to adopt RTE rulings on the screening of commercials.
Meanwhile, a complaint about an advertisement for Nescafe coffee - it showed a nun looking over the shoulder of a man reading Playboy - was not upheld. A complainant said it made a connection between Christianity and pornography and that it implied reading pornography was acceptable.