Monday 3 December 2001 11.29 GMT
Over 200 viewers wrote to the independent television commission to complain about the campaign, which promoted the "freedom" offered by the internet service provider.
The 228 complaints focused on the taste and decency issues surrounding the showing of nudity in an ad, with many viewers concerned about the campaign being shown before the 9pm watershed.
Some people objected that the scenes were irrelevant to the product.
Freeserve's campaign attracted far more complaints than any other this year.
The only other contender was an ad for Pampers nappies, which attracted 135 complaints from viewers offended by the use of the term "soft poo".
The ITC rejected the complaints abut Freeserve, pointing out that the campaign had not been shown during programmes specifically aimed at children and that the on-screen captions were strategically placed to cover any explicit nudity.
Another campaign, for the internet bank Egg, attracted complaints from several viewers offended by its portrayal of Russians as ugly, stupid or backward.
The ads show the comedian Daisy Donovan inspecting a group of ragged, unsophisticated-looking men in a Russian husband market. She eventually buys a man, using her Egg credit card.
The ITC rejected the complaints, judging that Russians are "not an ethnic group which suffers significant discrimination in the UK" and that the commercials were "unlikely to damage perceptions viewers may have of Russians".
But it said the campaign was a borderline case and warned the BACC, which pre-vets broadcast advertising campaigns, to take a more cautious line on minority groups in the future.
TEXT: The Guardian
Related Links
Freeserve - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
ADWATCH: Freeserve uses nudists to highlight internet freedom - Marketing magazine
BBC NEWS | Magazine | Farewell from Freeserve
