To feel vindicated that John Lewis has pulled its awful ad with the boy in the dress trashing the house?

[Clymene]

I wrote to the ASA and complained. I said the ad was misleading (as into insurance will cover wilful damage), sexist (with a boy rampaging through the house and destroying his mother and sister's things, and sexualised.

I also called John Lewis and told them I hated it and why.

They've withdrawn it.

GOOD

Yanbu to be glad the ad is gone but yabu to see you've been vindicated. Was hardly about you clearing your name / being proved right etc.

@Getyourarseofffthequattro

Have you nothing better to do?

All I can say is I hope nobody was actually paid money to come up with that ad!

@Getyourarseofffthequattro

Have you nothing better to do?

Have you?

Call me an old cynic, if you wish, but I strongly suspect John Lewis were deliberately trying to be edgy and controversial. Great publicity to get everyone talking and viewing the ad, the marketing department became so excited about their plan everyone at JL forgot/overlooked that it was misleading advertising, Quite rightly they have had their knuckles firmly wrapped.
Still no real harm done to JL...many more people are aware they sell insurance

I messaged and asked if they could assure me that if I allowed a child to trash my home in the name of self-expression and then made a successful claim on their policy that they wouldn't increase my premium. No answer.

It could have been a good advert, I really didn't mind the boy dressing up and dancing to a cool song. I didn't get the sexualised bit particularly.
The trashing stuff annoyed me and did the pro trans corner no favours. It sort of said when a male dresses like a female he can do what he wants and deliberately trample over other peoples belongings with a two fingers up attitude. In the meantime everyone claps and calls it brave.
A little girl behaving the same way would be called a brat.

Yawwwwnn.

Well done OP, go get ‘em champ!

🙄

I completely agree op. I complained on the same grounds as you.

Well done - thank you and everyone else who complained. There were clearly many others as well.

But the JL statement is so mealy mouthed. They need to own their conduct and own the corporate decisions.

Sorry JL - still not shopping with you. I did, a lot, a long time ago.

Woke, sexualised, pouty and plain awful. Women sitting there as he wilfully wrecked the house, ruining his sister's quiet enjoyment of her painting and sexing it up to the camera in a very obvious fashion at least twice.

I’m glad it’s been withdrawn but sadly not for the fact it was so offensive.

Well done OP for standing up and complaining, clearly the ASA had lots of complaints.

Sorry are we not allowed our own opinions anymore?

Yes. And I gave mine.

@Merrilee

Yanbu to be glad the ad is gone but yabu to see you've been vindicated. Was hardly about you clearing your name / being proved right etc.

Oh it absolutely was about being proved right.

YANBU.
Awful ad, awful messaging and sexist.

@iklboogiemaninthecloset

Sorry are we not allowed our own opinions anymore?

Yes. And I gave mine.

Yes and apparently overruled mine

I'm very glad it's been pulled. It was a horrible advert. The bit where the little shit wrecks his sister's painting was particularly upsetting.

I also feel sorry for the young actor. Some of the complaints weren’t just about the advert being misleading at all, but the overall message behind it. I didn’t agree with it either, but I hope that he has been shielded from the backlash it caused when he’s done absolutely nothing wrong. I can’t imagine being that young and excited at seeing myself on screen and then have it pulled and being told people were complaining about it. From a child’s POV he might feel he’s done something really wrong.

I didn't 'overrule' you. I disagreed with you. Which is perfectly acceptable on MN and in real life.

Great news.

Why are they confusing the actor with the character he plays? I'm sure he wasn't given free rein to go wild on the set. No directions were given and in real life that's who he is? I highly doubt that. What are they hoping to achieve? It's a very weird take by JL.

Getyourarseofffthequattro Don't try and pretend that your original post to the op wasn't rude. We can all read you know and what other explanation do you have for "Have you nothing better to do?"

@knittingaddict

Getyourarseofffthequattro Don't try and pretend that your original post to the op wasn't rude. We can all read you know and what other explanation do you have for "Have you nothing better to do?"

I said it wasn't a personal attack, which it wasn't.

There were a lot of problems with the advert but thankfully the fact that it was misleading was the tipping point

I'm not surprised the FCA decided to pull the advert, complaints aside. No way can you advertise home contents insurance including accidental damage when what they show clearly isn't.

I hope it will make JLP and other businesses think harder about messaging more generally though

Let's hope others can learn from this