A New Zealand health campaign designed to help curb hepatitis C has hit a stumbling block after one of its advertisements showed people raising their middle finger was deemed too offensive to air.
Ayesha Verrall, associate health minister, launched the campaign Stick it to Hep C in July to raise awareness about the virus, which kills around 200 New Zealanders a year.
The campaign included videos, outdoor posters, and online material with actors raising their middle finger to another person while smiling. The advertisement then shows an actor with his middle finger pricked for a blood test to determine if he has the blood-borne virus.
But the Advertising Standards Authority has upheld a complaint describing the advertising imagery as deeply offensive. The gesture is long established as a sign language for a series of very rude words, in short F You! The complainant said something. It has no place on a billboard or where it can be seen by children. While the complaints board agreed that those watching the advertising were likely to understand that there is an easy finger prick test to determine if you have been exposed to hepatitis C and a new effective treatment, the context would be missing for most people who were likely to only focus on the hand gesture. The gesture was one of the most offensive gestures that people can give to another person and always has negative connotations, the board said, disagreeing with the advertiser that the smiling faces of the characters mitigated any aggressive intent.
It agreed that the advertisement was a breach of standards and used an indecent and offensive hand gesture.
Nick Chamberlain, the national director of the Public Health Service, told the NZ Herald that the decision was regrettable and that the ASA did not get the balance right on this occasion. The middle finger picture has been removed from the main campaign image in favor of a double thumbs up, but the YouTube clip remains online and the middle finger imagery is still featured on the campaign's website.