Unilever slammed for ‘degrading’ Facebook noodle advert

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) have ruled that Unilever cannot use one of their Piri Piri Pot Noodle online advertisements in its current form and ordered the firm not to use ‘offensive images' in the future.

The company caused an uproar on the Unilever Pot Noodle Facebook Page. They showed a female model in a bikini next to a picture of a Pot Noodle with the text ‘Phwarr, is it me or is it getting hot in here? Hot off. Which one gets you hotter?'

The advertising watchdog said the ad which featured a woman wearing red pants and a revealing red bra was ‘posed in a provocative way'.

Complaints were made against the advert and they were upheld. They ruled ‘We considered the presentation of the woman in a sexual pose and the blatant comparison with the food product was crass and degrading and therefore likely to cause serious offence to some visitors to the Pot Noodle Facebook Page'.

Two other Pot Noodle adverts also received complaints, but the watchdog rejected them.

Kitguru says: Bad taste or just a bit of harmless fun?

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