The Advertising Standards Authority of SA (ASA) has ruled in Telkom's favour in a recent complaint made against one of the telco's television adverts.
The commercial is set in a hardware store and shows a man enter with his arm on fire, but he is ignored by the owner who is talking to another customer. When the man with the burning arm continues to plea for help, the owner turns to him and says: "I'm currently unavailable, please leave a message after the tone."
The citizen who lodged a complaint told the ASA the advert was "distasteful" and sends a bad message, especially to kids watching. She complained the advert "gives the impression that fire cannot hurt you" while fire actually poses a danger to people's lives and property.
Telkom responded by saying the advert does not "feature, target, or address children in any manner".
"The 'victim' clearly enters the shop to obtain something to extinguish the fire, but is ignored because the owner is busy. This is analogous to customers being unable to obtain assistance from one's business because the lines are down. No disregard for safety is apparent," Telkom said.
The ASA had to assess whether the advert contravened either clause 13 or 14 of Section II of its code, but ultimately found it did not.
The authority said the commercial was not likely aimed at children, and there was nothing to suggest it was primarily broadcast during children's programming. The ASA ruled it did not believe the advert reflected a disregard for safety, and did not agree that children were likely to interpret it to mean that fire is safe, or doesn't hurt.
"If anything, it reflects a farcical situation not unlike typical slap-stick comedies and cartoons seen on television, and would not be taken any more seriously than such programmes," the ASA said.