'Offensive' Tunnock's Tea Cake ad banned by regulator

The advert was displayed near the SSE Hydro in Glasgow

An advert featuring a female tennis player holding a Tunnock's Tea Cake at the top of her thigh has been banned.

The Tea Cake, in place of a tennis ball, was visible with the player's skirt raised at the hip along with the text "Where do you keep yours?" and "Serve up a treat".

One person complained that the ad was sexist and objectified women.

The Advertising Standards Authority upheld the complaint because of its likelihood to cause serious offence.

Thomas Tunnock Ltd, trading as Tunnock's Tea Cakes, said the ad appeared on a poster site next to the SSE Hydro Arena in Glasgow last November to coincide with a charity tennis match.

'Objectifying women'

The Uddingston-based company said the placement of the product was a substitute to the normal placement of tennis balls, adding that they did not intend to offend anyone.

The regulator noted that the ad showed the woman's bare thigh exposed and her underwear clearly visible, and while it was placed opposite an arena hosting a tennis match, it bore no relevance to the advertised product.

It said: "We considered that although the image was only mildly sexual in nature, when combined with the phrase 'serve up a treat' it had the effect of objectifying women by using a woman's physical features to draw attention to the ad.

"In light of those factors, we concluded that the ad was likely to cause serious offence to some consumers and was socially irresponsible."