Tango posters 'unlikely to cause offence'

Complaints that posters for the soft drink Tango were "offensive" have been dismissed by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

The watchdog received 82 complaints about three posters for the soft drink but said the slogans were unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence.

The majority of the complaints were about a poster which read "Too much Tango made me suck a bull's udder".

People said the slogan was offensive, irresponsible and unsuitable for public display because they believed it suggested oral sex with a bull.

But the ASA said there would be no such suggestion to children or other innocent viewers even if they realised that bulls did not have udders.

Explaining its reasons for not upholding the complaint, the ASA said: "Despite the possible sexual implications to some, we considered that the ad presented an outlandish and ridiculous scenario as opposed to an explicit reference to bestiality, and any perversity was outweighed by the absurdity of the notion."

A second poster with the slogan "Too much Tango makes your guffs smell like oranges. Seriously, I just did one" also prompted complaints.

The use of the word "guffs" was considered offensive by some complainants.

The ASA said the complaint was not upheld.

"Although unedifying, we concluded that the poster was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence or be seen as irresponsible, and that it was not unsuitable for public display," today's ruling said.

Two complaints were also received about a poster which read "Too much Tango made me shave my nan. Innit".

The ASA said the idea that a side-effect of drinking Tango was the urge to shave an elderly relative was "clearly ridiculous".

One complaint said the advert implied the shaving of pubic hair but the ASA said that interpretation was unlikely to be shared by others and the advert was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence.

Britvic Soft Drinks Ltd, which makes Tango, said the adverts which attracted complaints were not used again.

The firm said Tango was a brand known for its cheeky and unconventional sense of humour, which was particularly appealing to the core target audience of males aged 17 to 25.

The adverts aimed to show, in a fictional and nonsensical way, that the orange-flavoured drink had a great impact.

Britvic said it recognised the adverts were not necessarily to everyone's taste.

A Tango spokeswoman said: "We always aim to entertain Tango drinkers and are pleased that the ASA concluded that these ads were unlikely to cause widespread offence or be seen as irresponsible and unsuitable for public display."