The Bureau's Advertising Standards Board (the Board) made the ruling after it received complaints about an advertisement for Kids Warehouse which featured 'teen-talk' slogans including "WTF?" which appeared in the ad alongside a sad face.
Kids Warehouse said the slogan meant "why the face?' and that it is a well-known saying and used among young people and families.
It said that the slogan can also mean "welcome to Facebook", the social networking web site.
Seriously, what the...? As Kids Warehouse suggests, I'm either "out-of-touch" or "crude-minded".
I always assumed it meant "what the f..k?" as apparently many other people do.
The Board considered that older children and adults may notice the advertisement on the basis of the acronym but that in conjunction with the image of the "sad face‟ it is reasonable that the WTF is consistent with the modern term, “Why the Face?”
The Board further considered that while the use of WTF may be understood as “What the F..k?” by some members of the community, the use of the term WTF was, of itself, not language which is necessarily strong or obscene, or inappropriate in the circumstances.
The Board also said it was unlikely that very young children would understand the acronym as having any meaning.
Perhaps once they start using Facebook they will?
The Advertising Standards Board's case report can be downloaded here.
A great excuse the kids now have for swearing. Having said that, as an 'Old Fart' I wouldn't know what most of the modern Abbreviations mean. Took me a long time to work out LOL and btw and a few more. An interesting topic Sasha, food for thought.
ReplyDeleteBig ED