Charlton Athletic told to remove YouTube video of couple ‘having sex’ on Valley pitch

Charlton have been ordered to take down a video of couple ‘having sex’
It showed a couple apparently having sex in middle of The Valley stadium
The offensive footage was uploaded to a Vine account in February
Advertising Standards Agency deemed the footage unsuitable for children
Man behind the account said it is genuine and was filmed on Tuesday
But Charlton has hoodwinked the internet – as it was to promote the club

Published:
15:14 GMT, 3 June 2015

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Updated:
21:01 GMT, 3 June 2015

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Charlton Athletic have been ordered by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) to remove an advert from YouTube after it was deemed unsuitable for children.

More than a million people watched a video of a couple ‘having sex’ on Charlton Athletic’s football pitch before it was revealed as a publicity stunt.

The footage appeared to show a mystery couple in the middle of the club’s ground – The Valley – in south east London.

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The video of the couple allegedly ‘having sex’ at the home ground of Charlton Athletic in south east London

A full version of the video was initially released with the intention to fool viewers into thinking it was real

After receiving a complaint an ASA independent review panel were forced to investigate whether the advert was either sexist or unsuitable for children.

The Agency came to the conclusion that although the ad featured sexual activity, it was ‘unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence on the grounds of sexism’.

However, because the footage took place in an area where children might see the content was judged as ‘irresponsibly targeted’.

Charlton responded to the panel, stating that ‘their target audience was 20 to 30-year-old males interested in hiring The Valley for their grass-roots teams during the off-season.’

Continuing their defence, the club said they ‘did not accept that the marketing activity was sexist or derogatory towards women’, and that ‘it was not targeted towards children or released onto any children’s platforms’.

They admitted to using a PR agency to engage target audience media partners such as The Lad Bible and FHM, and said that it was not their intention to cause offence or harm, or to act in an irresponsible manner, and that this had been a purely targeted campaign for a specific audience.

Released in February, the clip was captioned by user Showboat Vines as ‘Someone broke into The Valley and did this in the centre circle! #SextraTime’.

But after initially denying knowledge of the video, Charlton confessed it was a publicity stunt for a scheme allowing grassroots footballers to score – for real – at the club’s ground.

Promotion: The video was all to grab attention for a scheme involving grassroots footballers

It also featured so-called CCTV of the couple wandering around the ground at night

The vine clip was taken from a longer video which was uploaded to YouTube and purports to show several CCTV angles of the excited couple sneaking into the ground.

But a PR firm for Charlton – whose officials initially announced they would carry out an investigation – eventually admitted the video was a promotional tool.

Not everyone saw the funny side. One fan of the club nicknamed the Addicks fumed: ‘We are the Addicks – not the sex addicts!’