Some people are Sofa King sensitive
A NORTHAMPTON-BASED furniture firm has been banned from advertising its decade-old slogan which claims its prices are “Sofa King Low”.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld complaints from some sensitive souls who found the catchphrase “offensive and unsuitable for general display” since it sounds like a swear word.
Police investigated complaints back in 2004 but no action was thought necessary at the time. However, the ban-happy ASA has now prevented Sofa King from using its eye-catching slogan. The firm objected, saying “The slogan simply used the company name to refer to pricing” and was not “intended to cause offence”.
Most Northamptonshire sofa shoppers seem to be fine with the firm’s tongue-in-cheek marketing strategy, though. After all, Sofa King claims to sell hundreds of discounted sofas every week. The secret to its business success is apparently that it has secured mail order catalogue returns and clearance bargains from one of the largest suppliers in the UK. It sells these at its superstore at prices that are “sofa king low” – and with guaranteed deliveries within seven days.
The slogan may play a part in attracting customers, too.
Perhaps the Sofa King proprietors took inspiration from across the Atlantic, where an old, fake Saturday Night Live commercial for a family-run sofa dealer called Sofa King advertised discounted couches that are “sofa king comfortable” to prices that are “sofa king cheap” and with deliveries that are “sofa king quick”. The skit features a uni-browed couple and their three goofy sons, all with heavy accents and Arabic-sounding names.
The ASA watchdog, which champions a sensitive-minority-rule approach to media regulation, would likely not see the funny side of this un-PC take on furniture retail.
Here’s the old SNL skit:
Here’s one of the real Sofa King’s YouTube commercials:
Visit Nathalie Rothschild’s personal website here. Follow her on Twitter @n_rothschild
Posted: 29th, February 2012 | In: Reviews Comments (5) | TrackBack | Permalink
