A consumer who hauled Naked Insurance to the Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) about an “insensitive” advert about body image has lost.
The ARB dismissed the complaint, saying that while the campaign certainly might be offensive to some, and could be argued to be in poor taste, the Directorate was not persuaded that it went against the Code.
The radio commercial in question is:
“Every day… Millions of South Africans struggle with their wait…
And did you know, the leading cause of wait gain in the world today is… The insurance company call centre.
But with Naked’s AI-powered wait-loss technology, you can buy insurance, claim and manage your policy online - in seconds.
And it’s all on the app, so you can say goodbye to the wait for good. Start your wait-loss journey now at naked.insure
Lose wait. Get Naked.“
The consumer, in their written complaint, said they found the advert “incredibly insensitive”.
“I find it incredibly insensitive for them to imply that losing weight is as easy as changing your insurance company.”
The consumer went on to add: “Weight loss is a very complicated and sensitive issue and hearing the ad brings my own body issue to the forefront every time.
“I struggle with an eating disorder, and I have had serious struggles with that in the last weeks because I keep hearing this awful ad.”
The consumer conceded that while they didn’t think the advert meant to do harm, they were of the view it was “completely tone deaf and very harmful”.
“I really hope the campaign will be taken down,” the consumer concluded.
Naked Financial Technology said that they were of the view the consumer misunderstood the campaign.
“The advertising campaign is clearly about removing the need to wait through the use of instant, online insurance.
“The Naked Insurance app removes the waiting and frustration associated with traditional insurance providers.
“Specifically, this includes the ability to purchase insurance online in minutes, and make instant changes to your policy, all without needing to wait to speak to a call centre.”
The advertiser further argued that this message was further reinforced through other advertising methods like the use of billboards.
“Making it clear that we are referring to wait (waiting time).”
Taking all the arguments into consideration, the Directorate said the ARB acknowledged that weight loss is a challenge for many, and that people struggling with their weight can often deal with shaming by the media and society.
“In addition, these people might find light-hearted jokes about weight loss triggering and challenging,” the Directorate said.
“Weight loss is therefore perhaps not the ideal starting point for an advertising campaign, and the Directorate is sympathetic to the Complainant’s expression of discomfort about this.”
The Directorate said, however, it was clear that this campaign focussed on saving time.
“In addition, there are many actual weight loss product advertisements in the media and on social media, so the public are exposed to these frequently.
“While the Advertiser’s campaign may initially seem to be one of these, it then quickly changes direction, and the listener should be able to follow that the angle is now about time saving, rather than actual weight loss.”
The Directorate said that the mere mention of weight/wait loss cannot in itself be regarded as offensive in terms of the Code and dismissed the complaint.
IOL News