A Frog's Tale that spawned viewer outrage.

Like the last song on the radio or a tune you hear someone repetitively humming, some things enter into your subconscious and won’t get out of your head. In the competitive world of advertising, where grabbing consumers’ attention is paramount, advertisers are acutely aware of the importance of making their advertisements distinctive and memorable.

This is exactly what the marketers of a mobile ringtone, screensaver and mobile video managed to achieve by promoting their product using their advertising creation, ’Crazy Frog’. However, it stuck in some viewers’ minds for all the wrong reasons.

Crazy Frog, a computer generated, animated amphibian clad in a leather motorcycle cap and goggles was used to sell the advertiser’s mobile jingle. The ringtone consisted of Crazy Frog pretending to be on a motorbike. In the commercial he stood making revving noises which became increasingly noisy until reaching a crescendo.  Innocent enough, you might have thought.

Not to some viewers. It wasn’t long before complaints were flooding into the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). Some viewers complained that the commercial was annoying and broadcast far too frequently. However, the main crux of the complaints related to a far more unusual and surprising subject matter. Frog genitalia.

Viewers had noticed that Crazy Frog was very definitely male due to a protrusion that stuck out from his cartoon body. The complainants found this inappropriate. Some were worried about children seeing this kind of advertising material whilst a few parents had felt embarrassed by some of the questions their children had asked them. The ASA decided to formally investigate the complaints.   

Though the ASA takes all complaints about offensive advertisements very seriously this certainly ranked as one of the more unusual investigations it had ever launched. However, despite the high volume of complaints, 60 in total, the complaints were not upheld.

Because the commercial prompted viewers to order the ringtone via text it had been given an ex-kids restriction and automatically moved away from being shown around programmes specifically made for children. With regards to the anatomical anomaly, whilst acknowledging it was surprising for genitalia to be shown on an animated frog the ASA found that there was no sexual or inappropriate references made about it. Furthermore, whilst it appreciated adults were concerned about the frog, it noted that none of the complaints reported children being upset. As an ex-kids restriction was already in place the ASA did not consider the genitalia to be a problem. Lastly, though the ASA accepted that advertisements which are broadcast frequently can rankle with some viewers, it didn’t uphold the complaints as it is the advertiser and broadcaster who decide how often they show a commercial.