'Chav fighting' gym ads escape ban

Watchdog rules that Gymbox did not condone violence
Chav Fighting Gymbox advert
'Chav Fighting' Gymbox advert: campaign also included classes such as Boob Aerobics and Bitch Boxing Public domain

A marketing campaign for a gym that promoted classes including Chav Fighting and Bitch Boxing has been cleared by the adverising watchdog despite complaints it condoned and encouraged violence against groups including women.

The front cover of a promotional leaflet for fitness centre Gymbox advertised self-defence classes called "Chav Fighting". The leaflet featured the line "Martial arts with Burberry belts and a fist full of sovereign rings".

Text inside the the leaflet said "Why hone your skills on punch bags and planks of wood when you can deck some Chavs ... a world where Bacardi Breezers are your sword and ASBOs are your trophy".

The leaflet, which was handed out to more than 75,000 people, also listed classes such as Boob Aerobics and Bitch Boxing.

Two complaints were received by the Advertising Standards Authority saying the Chav Fighting leaflet condoned violence against specific groups in society, while Bitch Boxing encouraged violence against women.

Gymbox said Chav Fighting was a self-defence class and cited the Wikipedia definition of the word to point out that it refers to agressive young adults who often fight. The company said the leaflet was meant to communicate the class in a "witty manner" and was not offensive to anyone in particular as "nobody in society would admit to being a Chav; it was not a group to which people wanted to belong".

The gym said Bitch Boxing was a female class taught by the professional female boxer Cathy "The Bitch" Brown.

In its ruling the ASA noted that the references to "Burberry belts", Asbos as "trophies", and Bacardi Breezers as "swords" would indicate that Chav Fighting was "tongue-in-cheek and at a move from reality". Similarly Bitch Boxing was obviously a class for women.

"We concluded that that although some [members of the public] would find the approach in poor taste, the references were clearly in the context of a promotion for boxing and self-defence classes and would be unlikely to condone or incite violence against particular social groups or against women," ruled the ASA.

