GHD, most commonly known for their hair straighteners, have had their latest television commercial in British banned by the Advertising Standards Authority for causing offence with their ‘Thy Will Be Done’ slogan.
The commercials feature women praying for things like ‘May my new curls make her feel choked with jealousy’ and ‘Make him dump her tonight and come home with me’ and finishing with a screen shot of the phrase ‘Thy Will Be Done’ where the letter T resembles a cross.
“We concluded that the eroticised images of the women apparently in prayer, in conjunction with religious symbols such as the votive candle and the rosary beads, the use of the phrase ‘thy will be done’ from the Lord’s Prayer and the image of the letter ‘t’ as the Cross of Jesus, were likely to cause serious offence, particularly to Christians,” the ASA ruled.
According to reports 23 members of the public and the archdeacon of Liverpool complained that the campaign was offensive to Christians.
But be your own judge, check out a cuter version of the campaign below featuring a young boy who has to choose between a curly haired girl and a straight hair girl. The more grown up version can be viewed here.
GHD ‘Thy Will Be Done’ commercial (1)
I love ghd ever since I discovered my hair could be straight styled. And I had my fair share of prayers, only I prayed for a GHD (at the time, I couldn’t afford it). However, the commercial doesn’t seem that offending and the symbols are far from outstandingly obvious. It’s a shame they banned that one. If you look closely at the kids commercial, it’s far more offending than the other. If I would ever hear my little girl talking like that, I’d be banning her more than a hair straightener!
Maybe he doesn’t like her because of her straight hair, but because she’s a huge bitch?
The question is- if it was symbolism from any other religion, would it have been banned?
I think so.. because it wouldn’t have been about catholicism 😉
or the ghd headquarters would have been entirely blown up the very next day …
Like you said, it’s all about symbolism.
This ad with the children is actually shocking because of the words the straight haired girl says at the end of her prayer. It’s not even funny.
I think the “Thy will be done” tagline is offensive in this context because it’s taken from the Lord’s Prayer and trivialised.
I have no knowledge of this company or its products but I personally object to religious fanatics determining which phrases and expressions from the English language can and cannot be used in 21st century UK. I understand that 23 people wrote to the ASA to object and the ASA must consider this (according to their rules) to be serious and widespread offence. 23!!!
I wrote to the ASA to complain about this intervention and would urge anyone else who feels that religious loons should butt out of our modern lives to write to them also. Only 5% of UK citizens attend church in the UK yet they still feel they can tell us what to do and what to think .