‘Straight Outta Crumpton’ NWA pastiche avoids ASA rap

A TV ad for Aston Manor’s Crumpton Oaks Cider – which featured animated characters wearing urban-style clothing and rapping in an adaptation of NWA’s Straight Outta Compton, has swerved any action from the ad watchdog despite claims it was likely to appeal strongly to under 18s.

In the ad, which marked the brand’s TV debut, the main character wore sunglasses, a back-to-front baseball cap, a puffer jacket and a gold chain, and opened by rapping: “You are now about to witness our mighty apple. Straight outta Crumpton, making cider with attitude.”

While the rewritten lyrics avoided the profanity-fuelled original, they did include: “It tastes mighty with a bitey, made from apples right here in old blighty, we get ‘em all pressed up then messed up and then we’ll be taking just the best stuff”, as the main character was shown wearing knuckle duster gold rings on both hands that stated “BITE”.

As the main character was rapping the other characters, sporting baseball caps and gold chains, were shown breakdancing, spray-painting the Union Jack next to a low rider car, mixing on DJ decks, and dancing against a backdrop of speakers and crates of apples. Images of bright red, pink and green apples and cans of cider appeared in the background of each scene.

The ad, which was written and produced by McCann Birmingham, was cleared by Clearcast with an ‘ex-kids’ scheduling restriction, which meant that it should not be shown in or around programmes made for, or specifically targeted at, children. All media was handled by UM Birmingham.

But one complainant, who believed the ad included elements that reflected or were associated with youth culture, challenged whether it was likely to appeal strongly to people under 18 years of age, sparking an investigation by the Advertising Standards Authority.

In its defence, Aston Manor said that the inclusion of animated characters alone would not make an ad of strong appeal to under-18s and cited other alcohol ads that used animated characters, and a previous ASA ruling which had not been found in breach of the Code.

The characters portrayed in the ad were specifically designed to be over the age of 25, and they had ensured that the images used were not childlike in their style and would appeal only to adults.

The firm said that the Portman Group advice service had reviewed the ad and stated that the characters were fantastical, some being green for example, and did not have the thick bold lines outlining them which could have appeal to children. It also noted that the activities included were clearly a reference to hip hop culture, a culture that was likely to appeal broadly to all ages, while the group NWA specifically appealed to adults.

Clearcast said it had carefully considered all aspects and elements of the ad, particularly the potential youth appeal surrounding the animated visual style and music used. It said the style of the animation was not of an overly colourful or vibrant nature and resembled more an adult themed cartoon.

It added that the spot included activities commonly associated with the hip hop movement, such as breakdancing and graffiti. Similarly, the track used was a variation of the song Straight Outta Compton by NWA, originally released in 1988. In addition, all featured characters portrayed were clearly well over 25 years of age. It beleived, therefore that the ad would not have strong appeal to young people.

In its ruling, published today, the ASA acknowledged that the hip hop music and imagery had some association with youth culture but the watchdog recognised that these activities and cultural references were synonymous with a specific era of hip hop, particularly the 1980s and 1990s.

Additionally, it considered that the music and themes presented in the ad held nostalgic value for those who grew up during that time and that they would not resonate with younger audiences.

And, while the characters were drawn in colourful, surreal styles, it considered they were more reminiscent of styles used in cartoons aimed at an adult audience.

The ASA cleared the ad for future broadcast and added: “For those reasons, we concluded that while the ad could have some appeal to people aged under 18, it was unlikely to appeal strongly to them, and therefore did not breach the Code.”