Chicken-stealing skater and Diablo IV’s “hell”: 2023’s most complained about ads

Advertisements featuring a bikini-clad woman and a chicken-stealing skateboarder have won the honour of being among the most complained about ads in Australia this year. 

Each year, Advertising Standards marks the end of the calendar year with a list of the ads it received the most complaints about in the past 12 months. 

SmartCompany has long reported on which ads draw the ire of the nation — from Milkrun’s collaboration with the Do You F*****g Mind podcast to a “racist” TV ad for Devondale milk — and it turns out 2023 has been a bumper year for complaints. 

Ad Standards received more than 3,500 individual complaints this year, which represents 25% more complaints than the year before, and it investigated more than 250 advertisements for potential breaches of the advertising industry codes. 

More than half of this year’s complaints related to concerns about ads using sexual imagery and violence, said Ad Standards executive director Richard Bean. 

The complaints are reviewed by the Ad Standards Community Panel, which is made up of a group of everyday Australians from different backgrounds. 

The panel dismissed the complaints against all of the businesses featured in this year’s most complained about list, but they chose to uphold complaints against more than 70 individual ads this year. 

Another 30 ads were withdrawn or changed by the companies involved when they were made aware of the complaints. 

So without further ado, here are the five most complained about ads in Australia in 2023. 

The top five most complained about ads for 2023 were:

1. WC Savage’s bikini billboard

The most complained about ad this year was a billboard created by content creator Savannah Fletcher, which featured an image of herself in a black bikini, as well as an OnlyFans logo and QR code.

The ad attracted 350 complaints, landing it the top spot on this year’s list of most complained-about ads. 

However, the Ad Standards Community Panel dismissed the complaints, finding that while it used sexual imagery, this was not done in an exploitative or degrading way, as the billboard was created by Fletcher to promote her own business. 

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2. Red Rooster’s skateboarding thief

This TV clip showed a skateboarder stealing Red Rooster Hot Honey fried chicken from other skaters at a skate park. 

Some 214 viewers weren’t impressed and they lodged complaints about the clips’s potential to “easily incite people to take from others”. 

“This advertisement clearly gives the impression that it is OK to steal things if you want them. In this case, it is someone else’s food, (specifically Red Rooster). This message is morally, ethically and legally wrong.”

The advertiser said the clip showed a “playful” interaction with friends and Ad Standards agreed that it did not “depict unhealthy or unsafe behaviour”. The complaints were dismissed.

3. Mars Wrigley’s car romance

Some – 126, to be precise – TV watchers also took issue with a Mars Wrigley ad for chewing gum that showed two women in a car listening to music and sharing a kiss. 

At least one complainant suggested the ad depicted a non-consensual kiss.

The Ad Standards Community Panel found the ad did not depict sexual assault and therefore did not breach any sections of the industry code and therefore dismissed the complaints.

4. Lovehoney’s winter chills

A billboard from Lovehoney that featured an image of a hand holding a sex toy and the phrase “Winter chills have never felt so good” attracted 99 complaints this year. 

Many of the complainants were concerned that the image was promoted in public spaces and therefore could be seen by children.

However, the Community Panel decided not to uphold the complaints as it found that while the billboard “was for a sexual product, the depiction of the product was not explicit”. 

The Lovehoney ad in question. Source: Lovehoney

5. When someone claimed Activision Blizzard called Melbourne “hell”

Rounding out the top five most complained about ads this year is a billboard from gaming company Activision Blizzard for its Diablo IV game, which included a picture of a demon and the tagline: “Welcome to hell”. 

Ad Standards received a total of 44 complaints about the ad, which was promoting one of the biggest video game releases of the year. 

While hell is a consistent theme in the game, one complainant argued the billboard was offensive to Christians and referenced “the hell” experienced by Melbournians during the city’s COVID-19 lockdowns. 

As SmartCompany’s Tegan Jones reported in July, the Ad Standards Community Panel confirmed that “hell” is a fictional place, and not in fact, Melbourne. 

The complaints were dismissed. 

Image: attachmentissues0203 via r/Melbourne