On the website of the British ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) on February 1, 2006, was published the decision taken against a parliamentary question asking for the Voodoo / The Ex knife set to be withdrawn from the market.

The famous product designed by Raffaele Iannello had been launched all over the world a few months ago and had arrived in the United Kingdom distributed by the company I Want One of Those (IWOT), which had advertised it using a curious slogan that had infuriated various people. Some of these had tried to initiate a class action and, eventually, a government deputy gave voice to their protest by taking the case to parliament. At that point, the advertising authority had to intervene and make a decision, after hearing the lawyers of all the parties involved.

IWOT marketed the product as “All Men Are Bastards Knife Block” and this, associated with the shape of the product depicting a pierced man, for the plaintiffs represented a highly offensive and irresponsible message because, according to them, extolling violence. Then they demanded that the manufacturing company be fined and the product withdrawn from the market forever.

However, all the requests for condemnation were rejected by the authority, which instead accepted the defensive thesis according to which the product had been designed with a humorous intent and that this had been widely understood by almost all of the public, as also confirmed by the Telegraph newspaper which had published it without receiving complaints from its readers.

The ASA then underlined that the product was the work of an “award winning” designer and that it did not violate any norms.