''Pipes'' is a

television advertisement A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

in the United Kingdom for

Tango Orange Tango is a soft drink originating, and primarily sold, in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was first launched by Corona in 1950. Corona was purchased by the Beecham Group in 1958, and Corona Soft Drinks by Britvic in 1987. , the flavours av ...

, which first aired in October 2004. The advertisement was in the "You Know When You've Been Tango'd" campaign for the drink, which was revived in 2002. The thirty second clip shows a man wrapped in a carpet filled with oranges, balanced on top of five concrete pipes, with both the carpet and pipes attached to a string, which at the other end was attached to a sheet of grass. A goat is shown eating the grass, to a point where the grass sheet moves, thus the string is broken and the carpet and pipes roll down a hill, until they hit a tree, with the man still inside, followed by the five concrete pipes quickly running into the carpet. The man crawls out the carpet as the "commentator" describes the event as "the hit of the whole fruit". On 11 November 2004,

Remembrance Day Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in t ...

, the Advertising Standards Authority Watchdog banned the advertisement.BBC NEWS , UK , Watchdog bans Tango advertisement
/ref> The watchdog took the rare step of acting before a formal decision was reached on whether the advert, for Tango, had breached industry rules. The watchdog, which received four complaints, feared children could copy the commercial and harm themselves. This meant that considered re runs of the adverts in the beginning of 2005 were cancelled. Despite the immediate ban, the

Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre The Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre (BACC) was a non-governmental organisation which until the end of 2007 pre-approved most British television advertising. The work of the BACC has been taken over by Clearcast. BACC approval was applied bo ...

said it "strongly disagreed" that it could lead to accidents.BBC NEWS , UK , Row over Tango advertisement ban
/ref> The disagreement came less than a month after the ASA took control for regulating broadcast advertising where previously it covered non broadcast only. The BACC said it was "surreal" by its nature because it featured a man wrapped in a carpet filled with oranges. They went on to state;

Britvic Britvic plc is a British producer of soft drinks based in Hemel Hempstead, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. It produces soft drinks under its own name, and several other brands. Hist ...

, which makes Tango, apologised for any offence caused by the advert, and promised not to show it again. In July 2013, Womborse ranked the advert at #5 in their list "Banned: 7 of the Most Controversial Ads", whilst in February 2014, '' The Mirror'' included it in their unordered list of "The 10 Most Controversial Commercials".Save the Children advert and the 10 most controversial TV commercials – video – Mirror Online
/ref>

References

{{Reflist 2004 works 2004 in British television 2000s television commercials British television commercials Tango (drink) Television controversies in the United Kingdom Controversies in the United Kingdom Advertising and marketing controversies 2004 controversies

See also

References