Argos has successfully defended itself against an accusation that its advertisement showing a trampolining alien was irresponsible.


The ad, promoting a range of summer products, showed the child of the alien family featuring in its current campaign performing sideways somersaults on the trampoline. However, a viewer complained to the Advertising Standards Authority that the ad was irresponsible because the product was being used dangerously.

In its defence, Argos said it had put the trampoline in a safe area of the garden, away from potential hazards, and had placed a safety net around it as well as showing that the alien child's parents were present to supervise her play.

The company said it had taken care to avoid showing the alien performing a realistic move that a child could try to copy, and instead portrayed a trick that was clearly fantastical as it was done at a slow speed and with no apparent effort.

It argued that this was no different to any other instance where superhuman characters were shown performing stunts, and said it did not believe the scene promoted unsafe behaviour.

The ad watchdog agreed, stating that this was a surreal interpretation of a child using a trampoline and that it would be clear that the alien could defy gravity and that people would not be able to manage the manoeuvre themselves.

"Because we considered that viewers would understand they should not try to use the trampoline in the same way as the aliens did, we concluded that the ad was not irresponsible," it said.

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