Mother Buffer MWEB, you can’t say that
The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) recently received a complaint against an MWEB advertisement punting its fibre services.
The “Mother Buffer” advert, posted below, was broadcast on TV channels during July 2016 and featured a superhero saving a woman tied to train tracks.
Three complainants stated that the woman saying “mother buffer” after the super hero fails to rescue her – due to his progress “buffering” – was “unsuitable and horrific for children”.
“The use of the word Mother-buffer is inappropriate, clearly an attempt to hide vulgar language and is being emulated by young children,” stated the complainants.
MWEB said the word “buffer” is widely known, and the commercial references slow broadband connection speed concerns in a “playful tongue-in-cheek manner”.
MWEB also submitted this could be viewed in the sense that suggests that buffering is the “mother of all Internet-related frustration”.
“The commercial does not depict any offensive imagery and the reference is used in a playful and non-aggressive manner,” said the ASA.
The complainants also stated that the “damsel in distress” theme would harm children.
ASA ruling
The complaints were dismissed by the ASA.
“Given that the commercial is primarily targeted at adults, the Directorate does not believe that children who are unfamiliar with the original expletive would be harmed or encouraged to use this expletive as a result of the commercial,” it said.
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