Bold or simply inappropriate? Circles.Life steamy ad receives mixed reaction

It seems like Circles.Life has found itself in somewhat of a sticky situation.

The local telco's most recent advertisement, posted on its YouTube channel on June 3, may seem to have ruffled some feathers, with some consumers labelling it "not appropriate".

In the ad, a young man is seen watching pornography on his phone, with the noises from the video waking up his mum in the process.

She ends up walking in on him enjoying his alone time.

In a bid to hide the phone, he inadvertently clicks "screen mirroring" and the explicit video plays on the TV instead.

There's a moment of silence shared between the two before the mum breaks into a slight grin and passes her son a pair of headphones.

"Don't stay up too late," she tells him.

The video then transitions to an in-video caption, which reads: "Don't be embarrassed. Do your own thing." 

Netizens headed to the comments section to share their opinion on what seemed to be a controversial advertisement.

One YouTube user was clearly unhappy, commenting: "My family was watching YouTube on the main TV and this popped up. What the f*** who approved this?!"

A number of netizens could not understand the reasons behind why Circles.Life would approve such an advertisement and were keen to boycott the company.

"Boycott? I mean what the hell are they trying to show here," another netizen said.

There were, however, some positive feedback.

A YouTube user described the ad as "bold" and noted how important it was to encourage people to have conversations around such topics. 

This sentiment was backed by a fellow netizen who found it refreshing to see a "real take" on parenting.

They added: "Kids need to feel safe to discuss these things."

Not the first time

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Circles.Life (@circleslifesg)

In June 2021, Circles.Life stepped on more than a few toes with their ad campaign which touched on the issue of race.

The ad came after a string of racist incidents including families being subjected to racial slurs, and an interracial couple getting humiliated in public.

Three days after netizens called Circles.Life out on its tone-deaf ads, the telco apologised.

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amierul@asiaone.com

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