"We acknowledge that there has been a lot of commentary on the ruling..."
The Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI) has responded to criticism surrounding the recent banning of a Tampax advert.
The ad, a talkshow format where two women discuss how to properly insert a tampon, was banned by the ASAI last month following 84 complaints.
The body did not uphold complaints that the advert was "demeaning to women" or "sexually explicit" but did agree that the ad had caused "widespread offence" in Ireland.
It was later reported that the vast majority of people who complained about the ad were women. The ASAI's decision led to much criticism online from many who deemed the ruling inexcusable.
The ASAI has since responded to the backlash, stating that as P&G has decided not to appeal the decision, the ruling will stand.
They added that they "fully support" the advertising of tampons and other period products in Ireland.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X0LpyXMnjg&feature=emb_title
"We acknowledge that there has been a lot of commentary on the ruling and would like to reiterate that the ASAI fully supports the advertising of all product sectors, including tampons and other sanitary products, in any media or on any platform," they said.
"Awareness, education and informational ads are all totally acceptable as long as they are compliant with the Code. Each ad is judged on its own particular merits, taking account of the content and the context."
Following the initial ruling, P&G said that the advert discussed how to properly insert a tampon as their own research had shown that a significant number of women
were failing to do so correctly.
"It became apparent to them that many consumers regularly felt discomfort all or some of the time when they were using a tampon, primarily because they were unsure how to insert the tampon," they said.
"The need for education became apparent, and after conducting an online quantitative test amongst over 5,000 women in different countries (not including Ireland), the advertisers’ findings demonstrated that 30-40 percent of the Tampons users were not inserting the applicator properly."
