Swing Daddy's risqué golf tees escape the ARB's naughty list

The Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) has cleared Swing Daddy of any wrongdoing in response to a public complaint regarding its humorous golf shirt designs. 

The cartoon-based designs that include tongue-in-cheek images of stick figures in sexual positions and, in some instances, male genitalia.

The complaint, lodged by a concerned member of the public, specifically targets the "naughty" designs displayed on the company's website.

The complainant submitted that some of the items/accessories and clothing have penises, naked breasts, and explicit sexual innuendos printed on them, which the complainant deemed irresponsible. The complainant argued that should one wish to wear or advertise this, it should not be public and argued that adult content should be better managed.

Snyman Leaker Williams Attorneys, on behalf of the advertiser, submitted that its business is distinguished by the humorous use of puns and play on golfing superstitions. They pointed out that there are similar businesses across the world that sell such items.

The items to which the complainant refers appear exclusively under its “Party Polo” section, which requires deliberate action on the part of a browser to locate online. These items are not advertised by paid advertisement channels to the general public, the lawyers said. They argued that the imagery is neither explicit nor graphic and features cartoon-style content that is clearly intended to be humorous.

Many of its items have been selling extremely well since it first started trading in 2020, which indicates public approval and suggests that the typical customer understands the intention and obvious humour.

According to the lawyers, not a single complaint has been received from any golf course about its clothing and golfing paraphernalia. The advertiser stated that the complainant’s objection to what people wear in public is her personal opinion. It added that it is unreasonable to expect people to stop wearing specific clothing simply because one person does not like it.

Regarding the advertising content, the watchdog organisation acknowledged that the examples provided by the complainant rely on innuendo and contain cartoon imagery of an explicit nature. However, the ARB’s Directorate also agreed that these images are not graphic and are stylised in a manner that lends itself to humour rather than pornography or adult content, as the complainant phrased it.

The ARB also noted that these items are not typically advertised to mass audiences or the general public but appear only on the company website and social media pages, where people have to actively choose to follow them or view the content. In addition, it noted that these items appear to constitute a fraction of the items typically seen on the advertiser’s social media. Other examples include cartoon images of characters or personalities such as Homer Simpson or Donald Trump, along with quips about golf as a sport.

The ARB’s Directorate said it is therefore satisfied that the average person visiting the media content is likely a golf enthusiast and subscribes to the same type of humour. Given this, and given that the images are not graphic, do not feature any real genitalia or naked people, but rather comical cartoon depictions.

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