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In view of the above, the suspension of the advertisement was
recommended.
7. Title “Melissa do Brasil”
Topic: Children and Teenagers
Who: Superior Council of the Brazilian Self-Regulation Council vs. Grendene and
W/Brasil
Where: Brazilian Self-Regulation Advertising Council (CONAR)
When: June 2003
Decision: Modification
What Happened: The Special Council of Appeals sustained the recommendation of
modification of the advertisement campaign of “Melissa” sandals, which
displayed, in magazines, the images of dolls in sensual positions.
The complaint was filed based on a requirement sent by the Public
Prosecutor’s Office of the Childhood and Youth Defense Court of São Paulo.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office asserted, in its requirement, that Melissa’s
advertisement campaign was excessively sensual and, therefore,
inappropriate for children and adolescents. Said requirement also called
attention to the fact that the advertisement in reference could even stimulate
children’s pornography.
Grendene and W/Brasil alleged, in their defense, that the shoes identified by
trademark “Melissa” are not destined for children, but for adults and
adolescents, and that the advertisement in question was only published in
magazines which are directed for such public. They also argued that “the
images shown in the referred ad, tenuously illustrate the transformation of children
into women– moment in which the feminine feelings develop in their sweetest
manner”
CONAR, in its first instance decision, recommended the modification of the
advertisement on the grounds that the dolls shown represented the bodies of
children and pre-adolescents and that these should not be exposed to the
public in a sensual manner.
The defendants then filed an appeal against the above decision, insisting that
the models who posed for the production of the referred advertisement were
not children or pre-adolescents, as affirmed by the first instance relater, but
adolescents per se.
In order to attest the veracity of this affirmation, the defendants displayed, as
evidence, copies of the contracts entered into and by the agencies and the
models or their legal representatives.
The reporter did not accept the above arguments, stating that (i) the images
were shown in an advertisement which was divulged through magazines
offering the public the possibility of observing their details; (ii) the contracts
brought to the case as evidence did not mention the age of any of the models;
(iii) at least two of said contracts were signed by the models’ mothers; (iv) the
first instance recommendation was not, at any moment, based on the age of
the models, but on the idea transmitted (by the images) to the public, which
was of very young girls, almost children, in sensual positions.