A woman who came across a cheeky brand of golf shirts while surfing the internet took umbrage and decided to lay a formal complaint against the offender. Disgruntled, she took aim at Swing Daddy’s cheeky range of golf shirts.
Their range of polos, in her view, had gone rogue with cheeky cartoons, mischievous puns and the occasional stick-figure scandal.
The unidentified but clearly disgruntled consumer complained to the Advertising Regulatory Board that some of the designer golf gear on offer at Swing Daddy featured penises, naked breasts and innuendo.
The shirt-makers, represented by Snyman Leaker Williams Attorneys, responded calmly. This was humour, not heresy, they said. Their “Party Polo” range of golf shirts was not advertised on billboards or public spaces. People had to actively search for the naughtiness to find it.
The Advertising Regulatory Board was called on to decide whether the golf gear was offensive and polite society needed protection. It took a look at the polo party range — featuring designs with names like Kama Sutra, Frank and Beans, Big Black Cockerel, Hot Stuff, 2 in the Pink and Big Ts.
The first clarification in the judgment issued this week, was that the ARB’s powers are limited purely to what is advertised, and do not extend to what people choose to wear.
The focus then turned to the product images ― cheeky pictures, suggestive stick figures and playful nods to anatomical bits.
The regulator decided the designs were simply comical doodles, and did not constitute pornography or offensive content.
Viewing the products through the eyes of the “average person” and scrolling through a feed filled with Homer Simpson, Happy Gilmore references, and jokes about missed putts, the board concluded that the products were aimed at an audience that caught the humour.
In terms of the pictures being harmful to minors, the ARB found that children were more likely to be watching cartoons than browsing niche golf apparel pages in search of a saucy polo.
The complaint was dismissed and Swing Daddy was found not to be in breach of any code.
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