TEN promo slammed over mental health concerns
You just know we're in for another year of moral outrage in the comedy genre with complaints appearing today over TEN's new network promo.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
You just know we’re in for another year of moral outrage in the comedy genre with complaints appearing today over TEN’s new network promo.
“They make a joke of what can be a really important process for those dealing with a mental health crisis and if it discourages even one person from seeking out this sort of help or support that is not on,” Lifeline’s Chris Wagner told the Daily Telegraph.
Barbara Hocking of Sane Australia said, “What they have done is trivialise something very serious at the expense of people with mental health issues, who are getting a bit sick of being the butt of jokes.”
TEN Publicist Jeanette McLoughlin defended the sketch saying, “It’s a parody of the industry, but the joke’s on us with the pressure on to deliver and we reckon our viewers will get that joke in the spirit in which it’s meant.”
TEN also supports mental health initiative Headspace.
At any rate it’s getting people talking. Which is probably what it was intended to do…?
Source: Daily Telegraph
78 Responses
Please don’t dump these ads their fabulous.
You can’t make fun of sick kids, now you can’t make fun of something so remotely related to an illness – sounds like these organisations are suffering a bad case of rectal cranial inversion (aka head up a*se syndrome).
I suffer from a diagnosed mental health condition, and the views expressed by the organisations concerned are not representative of me and my people. The ad is as funny as hell, and if anything could raise the awareness that there is support available for people who have any form of illness, mental, physical or otherwise.
I’d like to thank all the political correctness w*nkers for killing Australian satire.
They tried to do something clever and original and I think they ought to be congratulated for it. Or at least not be condemned for it.
What’s the old adage – laughter is the best medicine?
Seriously, Ten, stick to your guns on this one, and don’t give in to poltical correctness gone mad – pun fully, and unapologetically intended.
It was bad enough when Beyond Blue went out of their way to censor a story on 60 Minutes last year, but this is so ridiculous that I’m sure 99 percent of the population will see it as a complete joke. I think people who work within certain charities devote so much time to their work that they end up developing a bit of a black and white view of things. You see this all the time with child protection groups calling for the censorship of famous artists, and anti-rape groups complaining about non-violent adult erotica. They start to think that their cause is the only worthwhile cause in the world, and that it must predominate over all other causes (including freedom of speech). Ultimately, the people this effects the most are those who want to fund suicide prevention but also support freedom of speech.
In the past I have suffered from serious depression, and find the ad really funny.
Oh dear, god I hate this sort of stuff, it’s a good ad, screw it anything we do now is offensive to somebody, me typing this message must be offensive to someone.
Humour should be outlawed! By crikey!
Does this mean that this ad is now considered a comedy success – it seems all of the greatest modern Australian Comedies offend some group of people.
Summer Heights High – Teenage Drug Deaths, Autistic Children
Kath and Kim – Boganises Suburbans
The Chaser – Do I really have to list them all?
It makes you think though about past Australian Comedies, if they were to premiere in todays society how acceptable would they be considered. Take Mother and Son for example, typically considered rather tame. But if it were to premiere now would it be slammed for trivialising alzheimer’s and dementia in the elderly?
Wow. I thought the ad was a bit stupid but never thought some people would get upset about it.
And for everyone who said “7 and 9 would never do something like this” we now know why, they have marketing and PR departments to tell them what will happen.
The problem with technology these days are the wowsers and tongue clickers are just that much quicker to react and complain…
1 teaspoon of cement please Australia!
A blessing in disguise. Perhaps now they can make a decent promo.
Lifeline looking for a freebie (but they are right unless you know people in need it’s easy to dismiss this as OTT it appears).
Ten need only to donate a check or have these “stars” do some charity work and amazingly it will all be forgotten. I bags having Miss Batthingswaite in a for session, um I mean help out raising awareness
After what they did to Supernatural and 90210 I hope this does something negative for this channel.
I hope that doesn’t mean Ten won’t show it anymore (like what happened with the KFC ad)
Australian’s biggest problem: Terrorism? No. The fact we’re turning into America. We have no sense of humour anymore. The ad was gold. All people who are offended, build a bridge and get over it.
I know mental health is a major issue in this country, but if we bury our heads in the sand and have no sense of humour about it, we’ll just continue to ignore the problem. If anything, this ad may highlight the problem a bit more, whilst having a laugh at Channel Ten celebrities in the process.
oh noes!
Good to see that the “Contact non-profits to try and create a moral outrage story” department of News Limited are earning their salaries..
So is there a list somewhere of the topics anyone Is allowed to satirise these days? It would be a short list.
I am offended all right – by Barbara whatsername from trumped up lobby group of the week who has the audacity to think she speaks for me. I have a mental illness and I don’t see anything wrong with the ad – in fact it’s bloody funny and I don’t feel trivialised or any other way impacted by it.
OMG! Where is everyone’s sense of humour gone!!
The world would be a much better place if we found it again.
Take things as they were meant and stop trying to find hidden meaning in everything – this ad and the KFC ad is case in point.
2 funny ads, no harm intended I’m sure.
it is a hilarious commercial!
The Daily Terrorgraph at it’s best.
Hahahahahah…..had to play it a few times….very funny. Good one TEN.
Mental health *is* a serious issue, and I don’t think this promo was taking aim at that or anyone affected it. My family has been touched by this issue, and it can be extremely draining and difficult for both the person and their family who live with that darkness around them. Laughter (in many forms) has been one of the best ways out of those dark times.
It makes it very difficult for anyone to be funny or say anything witty these days if you have to pre-filter it all to ensure that absolutely no-one, anywhere in the whole wide world will be offended by it.
What I find interesting in these situations (like the KFC ad too) is that the companies inevitably cave to a minority viewpoint, when the majority of their customers think it’s fine.