"If you’re tired of being taken advantage of, maybe it’s time to try the one cellular network that gives you more," states the new Cell C advert that is causing more waves than a tight perm.

The advert begins in a supermarket, with a man paying for his shopping. A dog then mounts the man’s leg and starts, indiscreetly, “humping” it to the tune of Blondie’s “One Way or Another”. The scene changes from the store to a parking station, garage, clothing shop and the man’s electricity-less apartment, the dog enjoying his leg all the while.

The ad went viral in just a few hours, causing quite the controversy and, by 17 June, 50 people had already filed complaints with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The next day, that number had more than doubled.

What does the ASA have to do with this trouble-causing (yet brilliant) advert? Well, according to wikipedia.com:

“The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa, (abbreviated ASA) is an independent entity organised and financed by members of the marketing communications industry of South Africa. Its purpose is to manage South Africa's voluntary, self-regulating system of advertising”.

In other words, the ASA enforces the Code of Advertising Practice, which is the guiding document of the International Code of Advertising Practice, prepared by the International Chamber of Commerce. It’s complicated.

But this basically means that if you don’t follow ASA’s rules, you can kiss your brilliant ad campaign goodbye. And according to half of the South African population, Cell C went beyond breaking the rules.

Stuart Stobbs from FCB ad agency that worked on the ad said that they are standing behind the advert as they do not think it is offensive to anyone.

“We absolutely stand by it, I think we wouldn’t have created the ad if we didn’t believe in it and I think it’s talking to the truth in South Africa,” he said.

“We do feel we are being taken advantage of, that we are being ripped off in many places,” he said.
The ASA has since requested a copy of the ad, but no decision has been made. However, it is not easy to make a ruling when it is difficult just to understand how Cell C crossed the line. Especially since Cell C voiced the general disgruntled feeling of most South Africans.

The ASA guidelines are divided into 9 sections:

1. Medicines
2. Cosmetics
3. Slimming
4. Agricultural Product Standards Act 1
5. Sales and Services Act 25 of 1964
6. Research
7. Independent Broadcast Authority
8. Miscellaneous
9. Acts Affecting Advertising

Under the 9th guideline alone, there are a further 65 points to consider before launching your brilliance, a few of which Cell C is being accused of ignoring. These include airing a commercial during family prime-time that is not suitable to children, airing a commercial that is in bad taste and airing a commercial that hurts South Africa’s fragile political sector.

At Decimal, you can be assured we take these guidelines very seriously. With Decimal, creativity doesn’t mean losing your credibility, and we comply to the highest standards possible. After all, we know the devil is in the detail, and detail is Decimal’s domain.

We have worked with many clients, across the board, and have delivered creative campaigns that have gotten people talking: in a good way, including campaigns for Soviet, Mimmos, Drimac and Newscafe. We push our imaginations to the brink to bring you the best branding campaign that will only build your brand’s reputation.

Some people believe that any publicity is good publicity. At Decimal we believe that good publicity is good publicity. What do you think?