Source: Radio New Zealand
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The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has revealed the television ads that New Zealanders complained most about in 2025.
From burnouts to bare bottoms, Kiwis had a gutful of a few well-known businesses on their screens.
Topping this year’s list for the most complained about ad was KFC’s “Colonel Hacker” with 65 considered.
The campaign included footage of the ‘Colonel’ explaining his appearance on screen.
“Hello New Zealand, I am the Colonel Hacker. I’ve intercepted your ad break, but don’t panic, this isn’t a ggglitch, it’s a gift, and hacking the prices on the KFC menu, here’s a taste of what I’ve uploaded….”
One version of the advertisement (the “splash screen”) appeared when the TVNZ OnDemand app was opened. The Colonel Hacker figure appeared and said “Hello, this is just a taste of things to come.”
Complaints ranged from that it gave the impression consumers were being hacked, it was placed inappropriately in the OnDemand app, scary for children, caused fear and glorified hacking.
The advertisers removed it after the complaints were accepted to be considered by the Complaints Board.
Next was Lotto’s “A Promise is a Promise” ad, with 48 complaints considered.
The ad begins with a man at the top of a ski run. As the camera pans out, the viewer sees the man is skiing naked. The ad then moves to a group of friends discussing how they might celebrate if they win Lotto and joking about nude skiing.
Lotto’s “A Promise is a Promise” ad received 48 initial complaints. Screenshot / YouTube
Complainants said the portrayal of a man skiing naked, with images of his bare buttocks clearly visible, was indecent, offensive, and inappropriate for younger viewers.
But the board said the nudity in the advertisement was brief and not close-up or gratuitous, and it was relevant to the story in the advertisement.
The complaints were not upheld, but that didn’t stop a further 70 people from raising similar issues.
Rexona’s “Whole Body Deodorant” received the next most with eight complaints.
Its campaign tackled the taboo of full body sweat and odour, highlighting that only a small percentage of sweat comes from the underarms.
Complaints said it was not appropriate for peak viewing time and some of the scenes were crude, sexual and in poor taste. A further complaint raised concerns the ad did not use proper terminology for body parts.
It was deemed that it did not meet the threshold to breach the Advertising Standards Code, and no further action was taken.
Rounding out the top five were BNZ’s “Payap” and Turners Group’s ad featuring Tina from Turners with complaints ranging from misleading over surcharges to offensive song lyrics.
The board did uphold a complaint about a scene showing an illegal burnout in the Turners ad, requiring that section of the ad to be removed.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
