Wicked Campers ad gives off chills

Campervan-hire company Wicked Campers, known for the controversial slogans plastered across its vehicles, has been reprimanded again.

A complaint concerning a van showing a cartoon of two people with hooded faces pointing guns at each other with the tagline ‘‘Chill or be Chilled’’ has been upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

The complainant said the advertisement depicted gun violence and that it suggested violence as a solution ‘‘if someone wasn’t chilled out’’.

The complaints board said the combination of the tagline and the image made a ‘‘strong inference’’ it was implying a play on the words ‘‘kill or be killed’’.

‘‘Taking into account the wide range of people who could potentially view the advertisement, it had not been prepared with a due sense of social responsibility to consumers and to society and was likely to cause serious or widespread offence,’’ the board said.

The van in question was parked at the Department of Conservation car park at Purakanui Falls in the Catlins, Otago, on the afternoon of September 23.

Despite warnings from the ASA, Wicked Campers has repeatedly failed to make contact.

The board was disappointed with the lack of communication, and it again expressed its concern at Wicked Campers’ repeated refusal to respond to complaints, and the company’s refusal to respect the principles of selfregulation.

In April, it was reported that at least nine complaints about Wicked Campers had been received by the ASA in the past 12 months, most of which have been upheld, with orders for the slogans to be removed.

John Webb, who founded Wicked Campers in Brisbane, has been approached for comment.