Offensive XFM Poster Features Gallagher Brothers - The Oasis brothers are known for their insulting gestures, but a poster ad for Xfm Manchester showing a toddler dressed as Liam Gallagher sticking two fingers up has escaped a ban after it had been labelled 'offensive' by complainants to the advertising watchdog.
The poster features toddlers dressed as Noel and Liam Gallagher, with the Liam toddler, who is wearing tinted glasses and a hooded jacket, pictured holding two fingers up in a V-sign next to the tagline 'A new music station is born Xfm Manchester 97.7".
The younger Gallagher is well known for his use of various obscene gestures, mostly to photographers following him.
The Advertising Standards Authority received 23 complaints about the poster ad, which was created by Mother, making an obscene gesture that was offensive and was likely to encourage children to copy the sign.
However, the ad has escaped a ban because the ASA noted that the gesture of the toddler was synonymous with Liam Gallagher and anyone familiar with Oasis would realise that and were likely to find it humorous.
Xfm says it had not intended to cause offence and that the poster was part of a campaign to launch Xfm Manchester aimed at 20- to 29-year-old males.
The campaign appeared for one month in Manchester, home to the Gallagher brothers, and will be used for two weeks in Scotland to back Xfm Scotland.
The campaign includes six visuals of iconic bands, including the White Stripes and Pete Doherty, to demonstrate visually and in a lighthearted way that "a new music station is born", according to Xfm.
The radio station also says that the ad is based purely on humour and is unlikely to cause offence, provoke antisocial behaviour or encourage emulation.
