What Crown Paints thought was an innocent and humorous advert about a couple expecting a baby, has actually outraged many viewers and sparked dozens of complaints.
Crown Paints’ latest “life stories” advert didn’t exactly receive the reaction the paint company was hoping for!
The advert follows a couple, Hannah and Dave, who met at an “illegal rave” and are now expecting a baby together.
However, their intended humour didn’t go down very well, as viewers branded the ad ‘massively offensive’ and ‘misogynistic’.
Crown Paints advert
The Crown Paints advert tells the story of Hannah and Dave who have settled down and are expecting a baby together.
While Hannah and Dave are painting their spare room, a chorus of singers, who look to be on their paint roller, are singing a jingle about their life.
In the song they explain that Dave wanted a child and Hannah didn’t.
But then one day “out of the blue” she did and “threw herself” at Dave.
The song then continues: “Now the baby’s coming and they don’t know what it is. Hannah’s hoping for a girl and Dave’s just hoping that it’s his.”
And viewers couldn’t believe what they heard!
The controversial advert received a lot of backlash on social media for presenting Hannah as a woman who “sleeps around”.
One Twitter user wrote: “Seriously bad advert. Women who don’t want children are constantly told they will change their minds. This advert just plays to that false narrative.”
Another outraged viewer called it an “absolutely disgraceful advert casting Hannah as a woman who sleeps around”.
Comedian Jenny Eclair also tweeted: “Hey Crown Paints get that offensive baby ad off air. What were you thinking? What on earth possessed you?”
However, others defended the advert as one tweeted: “I don’t see what’s sexist about the Crown Paints ad. It’s just a bad advert, like all modern adverts.”
Another wrote: “Who are these woke people constantly finding things to complain about?”
The Advertising Standards Authority has also received over 150 complaints.
In a statement, they confirmed that they are not investigating the ad at his stage but they’re reviewing complaints.
They said: “We’re currently assessing the complaints to determine if there is a potential problem under our rules and, if so, whether there are grounds for further action.
“The complaints are mainly focused on whether the content in the ad is appropriate to be shown on TV.”
Crown Paints apologises for their advert
After hearing all of the complaints, Crown Paints apologised on their social media for the ad.
They explained that they intended for the lyrics to be “humorous” and they were sorry if any of the lines offended any viewers.
In a statement, the company said: “This ad is one in a series that is intended to celebrate special moments in life in a humorous way.
“The characters Hannah and Dave are shown to be in a happy relationship and preparing for their new arrival. There are no negative connotations intended from any of the lyrics and whilst the ad has been broadly well received, we recognise that people have differing tastes in humour.
“We apologise if any of the lines have caused offence.”
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