Those new Hunky Dory Ads

myboyblue · April 28, 2010, 7:35am

Racy crisps ads not so Hunky Dory, say rugby chiefs

Wednesday April 28 2010

Irish rugby chiefs called in their lawyers last night over a new ad campaign featuring scantily-clad female players.

Sports officials slammed the provocative Hunky Dorys crisps billboards - with the tagline Proud Sponsors of Irish Rugby - as tasteless and called on the company to scrap them straight away.

But the snack firm, which sponsors All-Ireland League Division 3 side Navan, insisted it had a right to print the claim alongside a revealing shot of a model clutching a rugby ball and the phrase Are You Staring at My Crisps?

The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) said the sponsorship line wrongly implied the company was a major donor to the game.

“This advertising campaign is in very bad taste and one which the IRFU would not want to be associated with in any way,” spokesman Padraig Power said.

"Its blatant exploitation of women is tasteless and base, and quite simply unacceptable.

“Irish Rugby has a strong family focus and would not tolerate any connection with such an approach”.

Mr Power said IRFU solicitors had contacted Hunky Dorys’ distributors Largo Foods to request the immediate withdrawal of the campaign.

“We are also writing to the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) bringing to their attention the misleading claims,” he added.

"The claim that the product is a proud sponsor of Irish Rugby implies that the company is a significant sponsor of the game in this country, though the IRFU.

"This is absolutely untrue and a cynical ploy in an attempt to capitalise on the games popularity.

“By doing so it has the potential to undermine the legitimate claims of the many genuine sponsors and supporters of Irish Rugby whose investment has been a key element in the success of rugby at grass roots level throughout the country, and of our Provincial and National Teams.”

The new campaign is not the first to land Hunky Dorys in hot water.

In 2005 around 60 complaints were lodged with the ASAI against an advert featuring three lingerie-wearing models and the slogan “Which one would you throw out of bed for eating Hunky Dorys?”.

ASAI chief executive Frank Goodman last night said more than 20 people had contacted the authority about the latest advert.

“We will be taking it up with the advertiser tomorrow,” he added.

Jeananne Craig

Press Association

myboyblue · April 28, 2010, 7:40am

http://www.hunkydorys.ie/downloads/videos/01/player.html

caoimhaoin · April 28, 2010, 9:14am

Holy shit thats exciting stuff there.

Julio_Geordio · April 28, 2010, 9:31am

Job done with this add already. Better publicity than if the billboards were up forever.

farmerinthecity · April 28, 2010, 9:51am

What a load of shite.

What is wrong with such ads?

I was driving home from work a few days ago and the car in front of me on the motorway was for a vehicle advertising agency. They had a caption on it which said something like:

‘Ever wonder if vehicle advertisements work? It just has.’

I was impressed anyway.

myboyblue · April 28, 2010, 9:56am

The IRFU argument is that they dont give money to the IRFU.

Their arguement is that they give money to Naaaaaaaaaaaaaavan RFC.

My argument is, where do I find more photos of Kelly?

Fran · April 28, 2010, 8:02pm

Women + rugby (or any other sport really) = unattractive

We’ve been over this before

caoimhaoin · April 29, 2010, 9:05am

Your clearly gay so.

They are some of the hottest women i’ve ever seen.

Fran · April 29, 2010, 12:49pm

So you’re telling me a hunky dory, cheese and onion eating female rugby player does it for you

Flano · April 29, 2010, 12:51pm

No but a hunky dory cheese and onion eating model should do. Yargh!

myboyblue · April 29, 2010, 1:15pm

Its a safe bet the woman in the picture above doesn’t eat HD’s or play rugby, irregardless of what her facebook page says.

However if she does eat HD’s and play rugby, I’d still plough her like a fresh meadow.

tazdedub · April 29, 2010, 2:04pm

I wouldnt mind being the person at the back of that scrum or even being on the bottom of ruck. MBB as the caretaker of the lovely ladies thread could these ladies be added to it?

Fran · April 29, 2010, 2:22pm

:mad:

Don’t do it MBB. These are fine ladies in their own right but they don’t deserve inclusion in the Lovely Ladies thread in their current state!

myboyblue · April 29, 2010, 2:28pm

As things stand, they are not ready to get called up to the Major Leagues.

turfcutter · April 29, 2010, 2:42pm

The GAA and it’s sponsors can learn a lesson here, a mighty add

caoimhaoin · April 29, 2010, 3:28pm

They are streets ahead of an awful lot of the birds in the LL thread. If you have the photos, put em up.

The_Runt · April 29, 2010, 3:29pm

Have you tracked down their names so we can ogle some of their previous work?

The_Runt · June 4, 2010, 7:49am

[b]Saucy crisp ads see sales soar

Friday June 04 2010[/b]
THE adverts sparked a storm, being blasted as sexist, offensive and exploitative. But they seem to have done the trick.

Sales of Hunky Dory crisps have soared since a controversial advertising campaign was launched in April.

Largo Food Exports have reported a 17% increase since the images of scantily clad female rugby players in provocative poses were plastered on billboards across Ireland.

The racy campaign created by the Chemistry agency sparked outrage among feminists and the adverts had to be pulled after more than 300 complaints were made to the Advertising Standards Agency for Ireland.

The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority also received around two dozen complaints and the Irish Rugby Federation Union sent a solicitor’s letter over Hunky Dorys’ claims that they were the “Proud Sponsors of Irish Rugby”.

But the fallout made headlines all over the island and the mass publicity has translated into a significant jump in sales for the crisp brand.

And a spokesman for the Meath based company confirmed that the €500,000 pumped into the campaign had been money well spent.

“Hunky Dorys sales have seen a 17% increase in Northern Ireland versus same period last year,” he told the Belfast Telegraph. "This is on impulse (standard crisps) only.

“Multipack sales have increased by 11%. In view of this increase we are delighted with the recent ad campaign.”

Slogans such as “Are you staring at my crisps?”, “Tackle these” and “Which one would you throw out of bed for eating?” were used to accompany the images of pretty women in skimpy rugby strips causing feminists to slate the campaign.

Kellie Turtle, editor of the soisaystoher blog, who is studying for an MA in Gender and Society at Queen’s University, Belfast, described the advertisements as degrading to women.

“We are living in a society that is trying to promote gender equality and these sort of sexist images encourage people to view women as a sum of their body parts,” she said.

“Women deserve to be treated with respect and the international obligations to portray women in the media are not being met.”

However Largo Food Exports (LFE) defended its tongue-in-cheek posters saying they reflected the brand’s personality, which was young, fun and vibrant.

The company maintained that was designed to brighten up the dark days of the recession.