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Out-Law News 1 min. read

Viral marketing hamster complaint rejected by ASA


A provider of corporate five-a-side tournaments has dodged a complaint over a viral marketing advert  that showed a hamster in an exercise ball being kicked like a football. The complainant, who felt it condoned animal cruelty, learned of the clip from a friend.

Advert: Free OUT-LAW Breakfast Seminars, UK-wide: Marketing and advertising on the web; and Ownership and sharing of customer dataPowerleague hosts five-a-side tournaments for companies like Bank of Scotland, 3i, and Punch Pubs. In an email to its website subscribers, Powerleague wrote: "It's a burning issue in sport today: Do hamsters have a role to play in football? They do in our hilarious new viral advertisement. Click through for your sneak video preview. And please don't try this at home."

The video clip shows a woman playing with her hamster in an exercise ball, only to be interrupted by her partner coming home, flicking it up to his knees and his neck, then volleying it out a fifth floor window. Once on the ground outside another man sees it and, as he prepares for a kick, the hamster squeaks. A subtitle reads: "bugger". The ad ends with the line: "Get your kicks at Powerleague."

The complainant, who had not received the clip directly from Powerleague, but had been sent the email by a friend, objected to the ASA that the ad was irresponsible because it condoned and could encourage animal cruelty.

The ASA's rulebook says that ads "should contain nothing that condones or is likely to provoke violence or anti-social behaviour," and "should be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society".

But Powerleague and its advertising agents, Newhaven Communications, argued that the ad was intended to appeal to Powerleague customers, who were over 18. It said the ad is no longer being sent out, although it believes the email had been forwarded by recipients to their friends. Newhaven still hosts the video clip.

Newhaven added that the hamster had not been in the ball when it was kicked (although the actor stubbed his toe on a coffee table) and said a vet had been present during filming. The ad was intended to be light-hearted and humorous, it explained.

The ASA accepted this response.

"We considered that the viral clip would be seen by most people as light-hearted and fanciful especially because the hamster squeaked and the word 'bugger' appeared at the end of the viral clip," it explained in its ruling. “We concluded that the viral clip was unlikely to be seen as irresponsible or to condone animal cruelty.”

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