ITC slams Turner over sexy Bueno ad

Turner Broadcasting has been rapped by the Independent Television Commission (ITC) for breaking a ban on showing an ad with an adult restriction.

The Kinder Bueno “lick my ripples” ad ran on its children’s channels Cartoon Network and Boomerang. The ITC took action after complaints from a number of viewers who felt the sexually suggestive adult theme was inappropriate for children.

The ITC has not upheld more general complaints about the ad itself. Despite receiving nearly 40 complaints from viewers who were shocked by the sexual content of the ad, the ITC ruled in September that it could be shown after the watershed.

The ad, created by WCRS, features a man in a newsagent being “seduced” by the Kinder Bueno chocolate bar, which says to him: “lick my ripples”, “bite me” and “I’ll be anything you want me to be”.

The Broadcast Advertising Clearance Committee had approved the ad, but because of the sexual overtones of the voice-over, it had added the proviso that it was not to be shown immediately before, during or after children’s programmes.

Turner Broadcasting says the ad had been shown on its children’s cartoon channels by accident, after it had been mis-booked as an ad for Kinder Surprise, the chocolate eggs with toys inside aimed at children. The broadcaster apologised to the ITC for the mistake, but it was still found in breach of the rules on the scheduling of advertising.