Artificial grass company ordered to remove ‘offensive’ billboard in Greater Manchester

A billboard advertisement for a Greater Manchester artificial grass company was ordered to be taken down by the Advertising Standards Authority.

The advertising watchdog ruled that the ‘offensive’ billboard – located at a busy junction where Oldham Road meets the M60 in Hollinwood – ‘objectified and stereotyped women as sexual objects’.

The ASA investigated the poster from Oldham-based Great Grass MCR Ltd following complaints, finding that the ad was ‘irresponsible and likely to cause serious offence’.

Featuring text that read ‘Artificial Grarse Experts’, the billboard also used an image of a woman in just her pants, with additional text saying ‘Perfect 365 days a year…Get laid by the best’.

Advertising Standards Authority

The ASA said: “The complainants, who believed the ad objectified and sexualised women, challenged whether the ad was offensive, harmful and irresponsible.”

They continued: “We noted that the word ‘grass’ was spelt incorrectly to include the word ‘arse’. We considered that was likely to be understood by readers to be a reference to the model’s buttocks and had the effect of making that exposed part of her body the focus, thereby drawing attention to the ad.

“The ad also stated ‘Get laid by the best’. We considered ‘get laid’ would be understood by readers as a slang reference to sexual intercourse. We considered that text, together with the model’s pose and state of undress, was sexually suggestive and would be seen as presenting the model as a sexual object.

“We acknowledged that while sunbathing, people might recline on a lawn wearing revealing clothing. However, we considered that in the context of the ad, in particular the references to ‘arse’ and ‘get laid’, the model was portrayed as a sexual object, rather than someone who was sunbathing.

“For those reasons, we concluded that the ad objectified and stereotyped women as sexual objects, was irresponsible and likely to cause serious offence.”

Google Maps

In response to the ruling, the ASA told Great Grass to make sure that any future advertising was ‘socially responsible’ so as to not cause widespread offence.

The ASA said: “Great Grass said it was noteworthy that there had only been three complaints when the ad had been seen by thousands of people. They therefore believed that most people were not offended by the ad, but found it amusing.

“They believed the complaints were generated by people on social media encouraging others who likely had not even seen the ad, to complain about it.

“Great Grass also said that to assume that the person featured in the ad was a woman was wrong and offensive to the transgender community.”

Google Maps

The company responded to the ASA ruling by saying that ‘Get laid by the best’ was a strapline it had used for many years.

Great Grass spoke to the Manchester Evening News, saying: “The ad was a bit of light-hearted fun and not intended to offend anyone. There have been a number of people posting the ad on social media with positive comments.

“We thought with all the problems going on in the world at the moment anything that can bring a smile is a welcome distraction. It is a very busy junction and the ad has been seen by thousands and thousands of people.

“To the three who found it offensive, we apologise. To the fifty odd thousand who found it amusing, sorry it’s got to go.”