The New Zealand AIDS Foundation says the Advertising Standards Authority has made an “excellent decision” in turfing out a complaint about an ad in Get It On!’s ‘Love Your Condom’ series. It’s found no grounds to proceed with a complaint from ‘P. Watson’ about ad showing two men checking each other out in a bar, which was in a bus stop. “Being in such a public place, we have no opinion but to see it. I don’t like children being exposed to it,” Watson wrote. The Advertising Standards Authority says the fact the ad features gay men is not grounds for a complaint in itself, and that the ad did not breach advertising codes. “This is an excellent decision that’s fair and based on the community standards that the ASA believes are prevalent in New Zealand society,” says New Zealand AIDS Foundation head Shaun Robinson. “The ASA is reflecting their attitude of most New Zealanders who do support the gay and bisexual men in their lives and the development of a condom culture. “Get it On! is making condom use for gay and bisexual men a social norm and this decision is another sign that this is more than acceptable to but supported by the wider community ,” Robinson says. “We’re also very pleased to see that the wider issue of marginalising gay men (due to homophobia) was described really simply as ‘not grounds for a complaint’ and that two men checking each other out in a bar is considered unremarkable.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 23rd June 2012 - 1:10pm