A Facebook advertisement by Big W featuring a selection of its products has been subject to a community panel review, which was eventually dismissed.
The sponsored post featured several items, including a figurine of a woman in lingerie and bunny eats reclining, a hip trainer which shows an image of the product and a woman in exercise clothes leaning forward onto an exercise ball, a hair styling wand, a baby spoon, and a case display of the R-rated PS5 game ‘Indika’.
According to one complainant, the advert was sexual, racist and misogynistic.
Big W responded to the complaint, saying that while the department store takes advertising complaints very seriously, it respectfully denied all the allegations and argued the carousel ad did not breach any part of Section 2 in the AANA Code of Ethics.
“Through its marketplace offering with Big W Market, Big W advertises a wide variety of general merchandise products on its website, however the product listings are uploaded by third party sellers, and the products are also sold and shipped to customers by the third party sellers,” the company wrote.
“Big W provides clear written guidelines to all third party sellers on product eligibility. A high degree of audience control (e.g. 18+) and spot checks are also utilised as additional layers of compliance with the Code.”
Big W then went into detail on each allegation. Regarding racism, the ‘Indika’ video game and a latex costume mask were noted, with the former including a group of older nuns laughing at a younger nun on the front cover and the latter being a satirical caricature of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Regarding misogyny and sexuality, Big W defended the hip trainer product listing, noting that each photo of the woman’s lower body area is intended to show the viewer how the device can be used.
“The image depicts a woman modelling the product’s intended use, which is explicitly designed to exercise the hip, thigh and buttock muscles,” Big W noted. “The depiction, including the woman’s attire and pose, are appropriate for the fitness context and directly relevant to the product being advertised.”
The department store also noted that while the black, ribbed hair styling wand attachment and baby spoon may bear a passing resemblance to adult toys, are not at all sexual in nature.
Big W also argued that the sponsored post was targeted to Facebook users over the age of 18.
The Ad Standards community panel reviewed the complaints and arguments, and noted that while there was some level of sexuality in the advert, it was mild and treated with relevance to the intended audience. However, it found no racist or misogyny.
The panel then swiftly dismissed the complaint.