Crossing the line!
The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) have recently published a series of examples showing when adverts have crossed the line between creative marketing and inadvertently causing widespread harm or offence. There is an Advertising Code monitored by the ASA and they often rule that a given advert must not appear again in its current form.
The ASA Code reminds everyone that particular care must be taken to avoid causing offence on the grounds of?race,?religion,?gender,?sexual orientation,?disability?or?age. And adverts should not condone?anti-social behaviour?or cause?fear or distress, unless there is a clearly justifiable reason to do so. But at least once a month examples appear.
Why?
Whatever the reason or motivation, examples published this year by the ASA, with advice, include:-
·???????? Be afraid of causing fear and distress
In July, the ASA considered whether an ad for a?water filter?caused fear and distress without justifiable reason. The ad was seen in the context of a public health event in Devon, after a parasite that could cause a diarrhoeal disease was found in the area’s water supply.?The ad stated, “100 people have fallen ill in Devon now”, “protect yourself” and “stay safe”. The ad also stated that “every home in the UK needs a water filter”.
The ASA understood the contamination was temporary and contained to the affected area. They, therefore, considered that the ad exaggerated the health risks of UK drinking water and exploited people’s fears that tap water across the UK was unsafe to drink.
They concluded the ad would likely cause fear and distress that was not justified, and complaints were upheld on that basis.
·???????? Don’t take the p*ss by condoning anti-social behaviour
That’s right, ?p*ss. It’s an on-topic word ?and illustrative of an ad for a water bottle company, which showed a man urinating into a lake in a park. The ad also showed a woman walking past carrying a child and a man shovelling snow.
A voiceover stated,?“[take] your water intake to new levels…we solved daily hydration for this guy, the side effects…we couldn’t solve this, but he’ll take care of that…”.
The ASA acknowledged that the ad was intended to highlight the consequences of drinking more water in a humorous way. However, they noted that the scenario took place in a real-world setting and depicted a male prominently and publicly urinating in a park, appearing comfortable with his actions which – whilst not depicted – implied his genitalia was exposed and potentially visible to others.
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They, therefore, considered that by trivialising the act of public urination, the ad condoned anti-social behaviour, was irresponsible and breached the Advertising ?Code on this point.
·???????? Watch your language
The ASA say that whether the language used in ads is likely to cause serious or widespread offence will depend on the medium and context in which they appear, and factors such as tone. Some expletives are unlikely to be acceptable to use.
Earlier in the year, the ASA considered complaints about a poster from a cancer charity??which included an image of a woman’s torso and?text which said “Cancer won’t be the last thing that f*cks me”.
The ASA considered that viewers were likely to understand “f*cks” as an allusion to ?a word so likely to offend that it should not generally be used in ads - even if viewers would understand that the ads were intended to raise awareness of women’s experience with cancer.
They concluded the ad was likely to cause serious and widespread offence and was therefore inappropriate for display in an untargeted medium where it could be seen by children.
·???????? Getting it right
Clearly as the ASA remind us, it is worth taking the time to ensure that context, medium and audience are all taken into account when producing advertising to avoid causing serious or widespread offence and harm. You should also consider who your audience is likely to be and take action where necessary to ensure that your advertising is correctly targeted.
On my training courses I showcase actual adverts -1950 to the present day which not only use words but illustrations that show a line has been crossed. Happy to send you a set of the slides with a quiz.? [email protected]
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