Hair firm rapped by adverts watchdog

Silsden-based Jemella, which produces the world-famous Good Hair Day (ghd) hair products have been rapped for using part of the Lord's Prayer alongside "eroticised" images of women praying in its TV adverts.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld 23 complaints, including one from the Archdeacon of Liverpool, which were made about three adverts for the ghd IV styler.

In its ruling, the ASA said Jemella was likely to have caused serious offence to Christians by using the phrase "thy will be done" with images of a model praying, another carrying a candle and one wearing lingerie while clasping beads in apparent supplication.

The ads for the ghd IV - billed by Jemella as "heavenly enlightenment for urban angels" and "a new religion for hair" - featured five women in their bedrooms looking upwards, including one shown to be thinking "Make him dump her tonight and come home with me".

Large, on-screen text then stated "ghd IV thy will be done" - with the letter "T" rendered as a cross.

Jemella chief executive Martin Penny, who is now banned from showing the adverts, said he was surprised at the ruling and, as a Christian himself, had never set out to cause offence.

He said: "I was totally bemused. We have had many adverts, you are always going to offend somebody and we usually get a handful of complaints. But, at least 35 million consumers saw the advert, at least once, and these adverts don't seem to have caused that much offence.

"We most certainly did not set out to offend anybody. I am not a practising Christian but I am a Christian and would not deliberately set out to offend Christians or our target audience.@ The ruling noted that the slogan "a new religion for hair" had been used in ghd's marketing for the past seven years to refer in the wider sense to an interest or hobby followed with devotion.

But the ruling added that the adverts were likely to cause offence, particularly to Christians.