Goes to prove that there are some proper miserable b'stards about.

I've about had enough of all this do-gooder, politically-correct, mind-what-you-think-let-alone-say, don't fly the flag lest it offends bollox - I really have!!

Two points.

The people who made the ad play the stereotyping card cleverly - so the ad is ambiguous as to whether it lazily trades on the stereotypes put in the public domain by Ab. Fab and Life on Mars (is this the right prog?); or whether it actually enters into and reinforces the attitudes the characters portray. I expect the ad people even wrote prepared their response to the (predictable) complaints to ASA. The woman at the end says (false naive) "moi?" (Miss Piggy springs to mind!). M&S are "Surprised"! Who us? Nous? Surely not ....
Don't be drawn in to an ad campaign that leaks off the TV onto the news, forums etc.

second point. Some people thought the ad was sexist & complained to ASA. If we consider them to be "self-appointed" "miserable idiots" "self appointed moral guardians" then aren't we setting out to suppress their freedom of thought, just like we accuse them of trying to suppress ours? They complain, ASA makes a decision. Lots of complaints are not upheld. ASA can't really do much anyway. Let them complain, I say. They may one day be the little boy who says "the emperor's got no clothes".

Kevin (middle class. past middle age)

two postscripts. 1: I remember now Stephen Fry is in the ad, talking about mince. (discuss stereotyping etc)
2: The M&S ad people prob made the complaints to ASA.