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Britain's Advertising Standards Authority Criticises High School DxD Game Advertisements

Britain's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which regulates advertising in the UK, has posted a recent ruling on its website, regarding YouTube adverts for a videogame based on the High School DxD franchise. The ruling is dated August 27.

The advertisements were described as "three paid-for YouTube ads for CTW Inc," which is a videogame company based in Tokyo.

According to the ruling, one advert features "two anime girls... (looking) at the viewer over naked shoulders." The text included phrases such as “Official High School...All rise for the gentlemen's harem" and "titillating browser game."

A second advert features three anime girls, and text phrases such as “boobtastic game”, “Get your hands full!” and “high school”.

The third advert features an anime girl where, according to the ruling, "The profile of her large breast was visible. Her thigh, buttock and string-style knickers were partially obscured by the word “SUMMER”.' The text again referenced "high school," a "boobtastic game" and "All rise for the gentlemen's harem."

The ASA said that three complainants thought the adverts depicted girls under 18 in a sexual way,

The ASA also said CTW Inc had withdrawn the videogame adverts, recognising they "did not conform to UK advertising standards and societal expectations."

The company had told the ASA that the adverts' "humorous emphasis on breasts" and references to harems were both part of High School DxD's comedy. CTW had added that the three adverts "were intended to reproduce faithfully established elements from the original anime series as appreciated by its fanbase.... (and) not to sexualise the content."

In its own comments, the ASA said that the phrase "high school" in the adverts implied the characters were under 18. It also said that the way that the girls were depicted "invited the viewer to perceive them as sexual objects."

The ASA ruled that the three adverts breached the CAP Code [the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct and Promotional Marketing] by "representing someone who seemed to be under 18 in a sexual way and were irresponsible."

The ASA further commented, "We considered that by sexualising female characters in a way that objectified them, and by portraying them as stereotypical sex objects, the ads were also offensive and included a harmful gender stereotype."

In light of this judgement, the ASA ruled the adverts should not be shown again in the form that caused the complaints. The ASA told CTW Inc "to ensure that their future ads were socially responsible and did not cause serious or widespread offence, and not to feature harmful gender stereotypes by objectifying and sexualising women. We also told them not to represent anyone who was, or seemed to be, under 18 years of age in a sexual way."

The ASA is an independent regulatory body. According to its website, it "respond(s) to concerns and complaints from consumers and businesses and take(s) action to ban ads which are misleading, harmful, offensive or irresponsible." It can use sanctions against advertisers which do not comply with its rulings.

It notes, "The ASA can act on just one complaint. We don't play a numbers game: our concern is whether the ad rules have been broken."

The High School DxD anime adapted author Ichiei Ishibumi and illustrator Miyama-Zero's original light novel series of the same name. The light novels and anime centred on Issei Hyōdō, a dim-witted, lecherous second-year high school student who is killed by a girl on his first date ever. Issei is reincarnated as a devil, and from that day forward, he serves as an underling of Riasu, a high-level devil who is also the prettiest girl on Issei's campus.

Ishibumi and Miyama-Zero launched the light novel series in 2008. The first anime adaptation premiered in Japan in 2012.

Via lewissilkin.com