It may be a stereotype that it takes bureaucrats a long time to catch on to an obvious joke, but every once in a while that stereotype is reinforced.

For example, it took nine years for the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority to realize the juvenile wordplay in the Sofa King’s slogan, “Where the Prices are Sofa King Low!”

Regardless, after a trio of consumer complaints about the ad — not to mention the 2004 complaint to local police — the Authority has told the furniture store to stop using the catchphrase.

The ASA found the slogan “so likely to offend that it should not be used in ads at all, even when it was relevant to the name of a product”.

The King says people must be hearing what they want to hear, because the words “sofa” and “king” had “not been changed or run together or punctuation used in a way intended to cause offence.”

Sofa shop told: ditch rude catchphrase [Guardian]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.