British advertising regulators have dismissed a complaint against an ad that portrayed terrier-headed playboy “Trevor Mountleg” and sexual antics in the presence of animals.
The commercial, for Electronic Arts’ Sims 3 Pets
“Are you an animal person?” he says, waving a hand over his mansion as an entourage of full-blooded dogs drink water from a golden toilet. “Well, not like me, because most people are made up entirely of person. And if you’re a person person, then you’d be missing out on the duality of life. With the Sims 3 Pets you can have a pet or be a pet.”
“You can play both ways, and there’s no shame in that,” he continues, as a dog watches a couple dive into an opulent bed. “So, go on, experiment. Chase some tail. Lick your paws. You naughty little minx. Play with life.”
After receiving complaints, the Advertising Standards Authority determined that the ad was clearly “silly” and unlikely to cause serious or widespread offense.
“We acknowledged some viewers might find the content of the ad, in particular the scene of the couple on the bed, distasteful,” it says in its assessment, “but considered most viewers were likely to interpret it as being light hearted and mildly suggestive.”