TVNZ Flooded With Formal Complaints On Naked Attraction

Family First NZ says that TVNZ has received over 500 formal complaints over a programme which is saturated with full front nudity and adult sexually-charged discussions throughout the programme. Advertisers have also requested that their advertising not be associated with the programme in the future. The complaints are now being considered by the BSA this week.

In response to a request under the Official Information Act, TVNZ told Family First, “The TVNZ Complaints Committee received 536 formal complaints for Naked Attraction in late 2017. Formal complaints are those in which the complainant identifies grounds for a potential breach of the Broadcasting Free to Air Code of Practice.”

Naked Attraction was shown on TV2 on Friday nights at 9.30pm and is rated just an AO. It carries a warning beforehand saying that “it contains nudity”.

“Naked Attraction is saturated with full-frontal nudity. The show degrades human relationships to animalistic instinct, and promotes voyeurism and a porn culture which is harming our society. It has no redeeming factor. One episode included a total of 282 shots of male genitalia and 96 female genitalia. It is shocking that a state broadcaster is trying to outdo sites like PornHub and porn magazines.,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

“This is all part of the ‘pornification’ of our culture led by broadcasters and advertisers, with the watchdog (BSA) asleep at the wheel. Family First was swamped with complaints from families, including medical professionals, horrified by how the standards of free-to-air television have hit rock bottom because of this show.”

The Broadcasting Standards Authority are meeting this week to consider whether the show has breached broadcasting standards.

“This consideration by the BSA will be a litmus test of whether families can rely on the watchdog to act in the best interests of families and society in general or whether broadcasters have free reign to push the boundaries as far as they want.”

A number of advertisers have asked for their advertising to be removed from the programme after being contacted by supporters of Family First.

A spokesperson for The Warehouse and Warehouse Stationery said “As of today all future placements in this series have been removed...”

Fonterra said, “We agree this type of show is definitely not aligned with our brand strategy, and we have implemented a new process to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”

A spokesperson for Lotto said “In light of feedback about last Friday night’s placement, our Marketing team are reviewing our placement policies to ensure our advertising placements align with our brand values.”

Emirates and Rebel Sport has also asked for their advertising to be removed from the programme.

“The series ended before TVNZ responded to complaints. We are then required to wait for a response from TVNZ before referring the complaints to the Broadcasting Standards Authority. The process is so slow and drawn out that the damage is done.”

Family First will be monitoring to see if the programme returns to free-to-air television and if so, will organise a targeted campaign against advertisers to encourage them to remove their advertising from the show. Family First wrote to the Minister of Broadcasting Clare Curran in early December to express their concerns, but have had no response as yet.
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