[PoochJD]

Hi,

Yes, once again "Dodgy Furniture Stores" have been found-out, for faking another one of their ads.

Essentially, in this case, the ad (featuring "Nickelback's" version of the song "(I Wanna Be A) Rockstar") showed actors performing air-guitar and miming the lyrics, whilst prancing around on various DFS furniture. However, several astute viewers claimed that the people looked like they had been "superimposed" over shots of furniture, in a deliberate attempt to allude that the advertised sofas were bigger than they really were.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), investigated, and found that this was indeed true! DFS had deliberately and deceptively faked the ad!

The full details can be found on the ASA's website page here!


Pooch

[LostFanBoy]

so ?

[kBm]

..i dont get it. So you can't super impose people near a sofa, but if another advert you can use amination / CGI to drop a crate on someone that breaks into a sofa..... So reasonable to me

DFS said they believed that people typically visited their stores to examine an item in detail before purchase.

Sounds reasonable to me.

A few less sofa adverts would make the world a better place though!

[PoochJD]

Hi,

Basically, it's all to do with "misrepresentation" of a product: that is, making it appear to be (or do) something that it isn't. The fact most people will still check to see a product is what it claims to be, before purchase, is not the issue here. it's about the fact that DFS were implying that the furniture was bigger than it really was, by deliberately using specific sized actors, in order to deliberately make the furniture appear bigger than it actually was!

If you see an advert, for a car, and it claims that it had the ability to never skid on black ice, no matter what, and the ad demonstrated this, AND you then purchased this car based on what claims the advert made, and the vehicle failed to do what it said it would, you'd be able to sue for "misrepresentation".

Whilst most people would normally measure the space they have for an item of furniture, and then measure the item in-store to make sure the item would fit, the fact that DFS were deliberately misleading people is taken very seriously by the ASA. It's no different to Internet Broadband ads claiming "10mb download speed", then in miniscule print, they put "Speed will vary depending on your location". If most people who purchase that Internet service, and most of them can realistically only attain speeds of 3mb, then the ad is misrepresenting facts!

The fact that some of you may not care about the fact that DFS got caught out, is fine by me. I was simply posting this issue, because it's the only case where an advert has deliberately manipulated actors to misrepresent something, using CGI effects, in such an underhand way!

Normally, CGI effects are blatant, and it's obvious that if you see something like a car turn into a robot, and go skating on ice, it's fake. But in this case, DFS weren't doing that. They specifically and deliberately photographed real actors in one place, and then superimposed them on another piece of footage of the real furniture, in order to sell their products, but modified the footage of the people to make it appear they were smaller than the furniture, and that the furniture would be bigger than it really was.

It's wrong, and it's immoral!


Pooch

[Sebastalona]

In through the nose................out through the mouth.................and relax.

Feel better?

[Wild Weasel]

It reminds me of the film 'Jaws'. To make the real shark seem bigger, they hired a midget to suit up & go into the shark cage. Apparently the guy had a nervous breakdown after that.

[mark1080p]

Originally Posted by PoochJD

Hi,

Basically, it's all to do with "misrepresentation" of a product: that is, making it appear to be (or do) something that it isn't. The fact most people will still check to see a product is what it claims to be, before purchase, is not the issue here. it's about the fact that DFS were implying that the furniture was bigger than it really was, by deliberately using specific sized actors, in order to deliberately make the furniture appear bigger than it actually was!
Pooch

I agree, and good that the ASA took action but....other companies super-impose as well....

Why cant McDonalds not get done by ASA for the same reason???
as the plump juicy BIG MAC on telly looks nothing like the sorry looking thing they put in my box.

Why dont girls chase after me in the street when i wear Lynx deodorant (actually dont answer, it may hurt my feelings )

[Sonic67]

Originally Posted by Wild Weasel

It reminds me of the film 'Jaws'. To make the real shark seem bigger, they hired a midget to suit up & go into the shark cage. Apparently the guy had a nervous breakdown after that.

Also in Alien the outside shots of astronauts on the planet were kids in spacesuits to make the set look bigger.

[krish]

Originally Posted by kBm

A few less sofa adverts would make the world a better place though!

not to mention a few less Nickelback songs too (all of them)

[brian s]

Originally Posted by PoochJD

It's wrong, and it's immoral!
Pooch

I quite agree and it was such an annoying ad too.

Cheers
Bri

[freeman]

Originally Posted by brian s

I quite agree and it was such an annoying ad too.

Cheers
Bri

Was it more annoying than their "Christmas" radio ad (which they started running at the beginning of October) do we think ?

[brian s]

Originally Posted by freeman

Was it more annoying than their "Christmas" radio ad (which they started running at the beginning of October) do we think ?

I never listen to commercial radio so I can't comment. Having said that I hate the very early build up to Christmas. As an atheist I quite enjoy Xmas but not several months prior.

Last year some one at work decided to start the Xmas charity drive in February.

Cheers
Bri

[Pincho Paxton]

They keep putting little, tiny people inside my 50in TV, and making it look 50ft!!! They even put a huge ape in it, and....... The Empire State building!!! But even worse, on Horizon last week they put the entire universe inside it!!!! That's Sony that is!