Controversial Big W Ad Featuring Young Girl’s Gesture Sparks Standards Violation Debate

Australia’s advertising watchdog has taken a stand against a commercial from Big W after it featured a pixelated image of a young girl flipping the camera the middle finger. This brief moment sparked controversy and led to a ruling that the advertisement breached the Ad Standards’ code of ethics.

The ad, which portrayed a mother’s experience managing energetic children during school holidays, included this controversial scene where a child lounged on a sofa and made the inappropriate gesture. The industry regulator deemed this action as “inappropriate nonverbal language by a child,” prompting several complaints.

Broadcast through free-to-air, streaming and subscription television, as well as YouTube, the advertisement reached a wide audience, amplifying the backlash. Despite the criticism, Big W, a subsidiary of Woolworths Group, defended their creative choice, suggesting the commercial was intended to be “humorous and cheeky.”

The advertisement appeared on free-to-air, streaming and subscription television and also YouTube.

Big W, part of Woolworths Group, defended the ad, saying it set out to be “humorous and cheeky”.

“The gesture shown is fleeting, is not done in an aggressive manner or in a way that undermines the parent’s authority, and is not obscene,” the company said in its submission to Ad Standards.

It added that the regulator’s code says “advertising which sufficiently beeps or censors language so that it cannot be understood will not be seen to be strong or obscene language”.

Five previous cases of adverts depicting the middle finger had been dismissed by Ad Standards, the retailer pointed out.

It also claimed the gesture is regularly used as “part of Australian culture, and that when used in a non-aggressive way it is not strong or obscene”.

But Ad Standards found the Big W ad breached regulations because there was “higher sensitivity in the community” over children displaying inappropriate language.

It also recognised the commercial “sympathised” with parents who had to cope with boisterous behaviour by children.

But the affronting scene “left little to the imagination of any viewer” and most of the public would regard the sign “inappropriate for children to use, even if done in a playful setting”.

Following the ruling, Big W said the advertisement had already been discontinued or hidden across all channels.