Powerleague hosts five-a-side tournaments for companies
like Bank of Scotland, 3i, and Punch Pubs. In an email to its
website subscribers, Powerleague wrote: "It's a burning issue in sport today: Do hamsters
have a role to play in football? They do in our hilarious new viral
advertisement. Click through for your sneak video preview. And
please don't try this at home."
The video clip shows a woman playing with her hamster in an
exercise ball, only to be interrupted by her partner coming home,
flicking it up to his knees and his neck, then volleying it out a
fifth floor window. Once on the ground outside another man sees it
and, as he prepares for a kick, the hamster squeaks. A subtitle
reads: "bugger". The ad ends with the line: "Get your kicks at
Powerleague."
The complainant, who had not received the clip directly from
Powerleague, but had been sent the email by a friend, objected to
the ASA that the ad was irresponsible because it condoned and could
encourage animal cruelty.
The ASA's rulebook says that ads "should contain nothing that
condones or is likely to provoke violence or anti-social
behaviour," and "should be prepared with a sense of responsibility
to consumers and to society".
But Powerleague and its advertising agents, Newhaven
Communications, argued that the ad was intended to appeal to
Powerleague customers, who were over 18. It said the ad is no
longer being sent out, although it believes the email had been
forwarded by recipients to their friends. Newhaven still hosts the
video clip.
Newhaven added that the hamster had not been in the ball when it
was kicked (although the actor stubbed his toe on a coffee table)
and said a vet had been present during filming. The ad was intended
to be light-hearted and humorous, it explained.
The ASA accepted this response.
"We considered that the viral clip would be seen by most people
as light-hearted and fanciful especially because the hamster
squeaked and the word 'bugger' appeared at the end of the viral
clip," it explained in its ruling. “We concluded that the viral
clip was unlikely to be seen as irresponsible or to condone animal
cruelty.”
