Amazon pile stock high and sell cheaper than most
Amazon pile stock high and sell cheaper than most

Web retail giant has insisted that almost nobody is offended by the word "c**t" after being rapped for publishing the obscenity on its website.

Amazon.co.uk drew the wrath of the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) for an advert by UK firm Smellyourmum.com.

It was for a greetings card with the dedication: "You're a c**t. Sorry I meant to say Happy Christmas."

Amazon claimed the rude message would offend only a "small minority" with "subjective values".

The advert, it said, was "unlikely to cause offence to any particular race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age".

It said it published the image by the card company because the message was meant only as "light-hearted, irreverent fun".

Amazon told the ASA that children were unlikely to see the advert because they do not buy cards.

Smellyourmum.com, which has offices in Horley, Surrey, laid the blame on Amazon for the message appearing on a part of the website viewable by children. The gift company said Amazon's system prevented the image being covered up or carrying an age-appropiate rating.

The firm defended the use of the word on its product by citing a 2007 BBC documentary about the history of the expletive which repeatedly broadcast it throughout the hour-long prime show.

But the offending item appears now to have been removed and is nowhere to be found on the website.

A complaint by a single member of the public was upheld by the ASA, which guards standards of accuracy and taste in advertising,

Thje watchdog ruled that the advert was inappropriate and offensive.

ASA said: "Guidance on language advised advertisers that consumer research showed that the use of the word 'c**t' was so likely to offend that it should not be used at all in marketing communications even when it was relevant to the name of the product.

"We noted the expletive in the product description was partly obscured by an asterisk but considered that even in the absence of the product image which showed the word in full, the intended meaning was still clear. We concluded the ad was likely to cause serious or widespread offence."