KitKat’s tennis ball ad cleared over concerns of being dangerous to children

A KitKat ad showing a man spitting out tennis balls has been cleared by the advertising watchdog after complaints it could cause harm to children.

Six viewers contacted the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to complain that they were worried the ad could cause children to copy the ad and end up choking on tennis balls if they put them in their mouths.

The ad showed a man on a tennis court acting as a tennis ball machine and spitting balls over the net, which were hit back by a woman. A voiceover asked: “Working like a machine? Have a break, have a KitKat.”

KitKat brand owner Nestle argued that the man in the ad, created by JWT, was so nerdy and uncool that no one would want copy him, pointing out that he wore out-of-date clothes and was clearly not enjoying himself.

It also pointed out that because of regulations of junk food ads, the commercial would not be shown during periods when more than 50% of the audience was likely to comprise of under 16s.

In the ruling, the ASA said that although very young children were “notorious for instinctively putting inedible items in their mouths” it was unlikely that they would be watching without supervision and cleared the ad for broadcast.

Recommended

Mary Portas’ programme is a great lesson for marketers who have little exposure to the coal face

Marketing Week

Anybody seeking a career in marketing could do worse than watch Mary Portas’ new series, Mary Queen of Shops, as the retail marketing guru plays mentor to a selection of Britain’s independent shops. I particularly enjoyed last week’s series opener when Portas clashes memorably with the owner of a failing stuck in a time-warp bakery in South-west London.