Doom soccer ad gives animal lover the creeps
Pests they might be but it was all the killing that got Wouter du Toit so antsy. What bugged him was a television advert that promoted insect spray Doom and its killing of ants. He laid a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority of SA.The advert shows the "Doom Death Match", a showdown between a team of soccer players and a woman armed with a can of Doom. Live garden ants are placed in a black circle, spray-painted on a white wall. The soccer team tries to crush the ants by kicking the balls into the target circle but manages to achieve only 13% on the "killer counter". Their opponent, wielding Doom, is victorious, killing all of the ants.In March, Du Toit, of Cape Town, complained that the advert "makes a sport of killing innocent, harmless ants"."Ants are good examples of achievement by working hard, and working together to build something. I don't think killing them, especially in this 'sporty' way, is acceptable," he said.But the advertising watchdog let Doom off the hook because ants do not fall within the legal definition of animals. According to the Animal Protection Act, animals are ". any equine, bovine, sheep, goat, pig, fowl, ostrich, dog, cat or other domestic animal, or bird, or any wild animal, wild bird or reptile that is in captivity or under the control of any person".The Advertising Standards Authority accepted Doom's argument that the ants are household pests in the context of the advert.But a spokesman for the National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Christine Kuch, said animals considered pests should not be exempt from the protection of the law."Jackals are considered pests by farmers but that does not mean they can be eradicated inhumanely."How much of a step is it to go from chucking soccer balls at an ant to [throwing stones] at a cat? We see it every day."Nevashnee Naicker‚ communications manager of Tiger Brands‚ which manufactures Doom‚ said the company is satisfied with the ruling by the ASA. "We do not support the harming of animals or animal cruelty in any way‚" Naicker said. ..
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