An ad encouraging men to get checked for prostate cancer, starring Ricky Gervais, comedian with a past as a new wave popstar now most famous for his role as David Brent in "The Office", has banned from radio waves before nine pm as it was too offensive. Yeah! Wild!
A soundeffect has also been removed from the ad - a 'squish' noise - to santize the ad. Why? Well it's a touchy subject (pun intended) I guess. The sound effect is in the ad as Ricky who plays the doctor is inserting a finger to check the prostate.
Ricky is not at all happy with the squish sound being removed: "It's pathetic. One of the reasons that people die of cancer is that they don't get themselves checked. One of the reasons they don't get checked is embarrassment over the issue. The radio authority has actually enhanced this as a taboo."
He has a point, The advert should have aired as planned, but I don't really mind that it has been moved to a later hour. I would hate being stuck in traffic and having to explain what that squish noise is to my kids.
The Prostate Cancer Charity never intended the ad to run during the day anyway, John Neate chief executive of the charity called the decision to remove the squish 'a disgrace'. You can listen to the ad un-cut in real audio or mp3 from here.
Client: The Prostate Cancer Charity
Country: United Kingdom
Copywriter: Ricky Gervais
Copywriter: Gary Turner
Director: Ricky Gervais
Art Director : Jamie Marshall
Creative Director : Nik Studzinski
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much hullabaloo over nothin'. the spot's kinda average.
would've been funnier if he'd just had his office character and gareth ramble on and on for 45 seconds about the topic.
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PermalinkApparently the RACC has backed down, allowing the ad to air throughout the day. But the "squish" will remain silenced as part of the deal with the Radio Advertising Clearance Centre.
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PermalinkHow could they possibly excise the Squish? They might as well forget the whole spot, then!
Actually, I thought the spot was pretty well done; especially when it's revealed the doctor's pal happens to be in the room just to take a peek!
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PermalinkThe mp3 file moved to http://www.prostate-cancer.org.uk/media/audio/ricky_web.mp3
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PermalinkFor those who aren't aware - this spot features 3 well known characters - the abovementioned Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Ricky's writing partner (the guy watching) and Karl Pilkington, the ex-producer of Stephen and Ricky's radio show who has recently been catapulted to cult superstardom following a series of 12 free podcasts the three of them did for the Guardian.
These podcasts were massively successful, especially in the UK, in fact I believe they will be featured in the new Guinness Book of Records as the most downloaded/listened to/popular podcast of all time (ok, so podcasts haven't been around that long...).
So while the ad of itself isn't really much to shout about, it is done in the style of their show which gives it a little more of a point. I think in the context of the recently completed and very funny podcast, getting the three of them to do it for charity showed someone had their finger, not just up their arse, but also on the pulse.
If you're an Office fan or are just curious, you can download the more recent of the podcasts here I think: http://www.guardian.co.uk/rickygervais
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