Barnado’s Campaign Ranked Most Complained About In 2003
Barnado’s harrowing child poverty ad attracted a total of 475 complaints last year making it the most contentious press campaign in the history of the Advertising Standards Authority.
The campaign, which featured a computer generated photograph of a new born baby with a cockroach crawling out of its mouth, was banned by the advertising watchdog after rafts of consumers claimed it was offensive and unduly distressing.
The campaign was designed by Bartle Bogle Hegarty to communicate the devastating effects of poverty on children. It also featured shocking images of a baby with a syringe in its mouth and another clutching a bottle of methylated spirit (see ASA Bans Barnardo’s Child Poverty Campaign).
A poster campaign for Velvet toilet tissue featuring naked bottoms proved to be the second most complained about of 2003, with a total of 375 people claiming the ads were offensive and demeaning.
Easyjet’s infamous ‘Weapons of mass distraction’ national press and poster campaign took third place following complaints from almost 200 consumers. This was followed by a promotion for Nestlé’s Yorkie, which prompted objections from 129 people concerned that it reinforced unacceptable sexist attitudes towards women.
Channel 4’s controversial campaign for the second series of Six Feet Under also made it into the top ten with 122 complaints, as did a series of posters for the BBC, which featured Sophie Dahl lying naked on a bed of roses. Nudity prompted more than 100 people to complain about two posters for Sloggi underwear featuring women wearing g-strings.
The ASA’s latest Annual Report for 2003 shows that the advertising watchdog received a total of 14,277 complaints last year, an increase of 2.3% compared with 2002. More complaints than ever before were resolved by the end of the year and a total of 1,613 investigations were conducted.
Direct mail attracted the most complaints during 2003, followed by campaigns in the national press, where there was a 118% increase in complaints regarding offensiveness. The number of complaints regarding ads sent by email and SMS continued to rise sharply, reflecting the continued use of new technologies by advertisers. The internet now ranks as the fifth most complained about media, ahead of national press.
Earlier this year, the Advertising Standards Authority predicted that Ofcom’s plans to create a one-stop-shop for all advertising complaints would lead to a substantial increase in the number received.
Ofcom is not currently responsible for handling complaints relating to broadcast advertising and forwards them to television and radio watchdogs. However, the industry watchdog is planning to simplify the existing regulatory framework by bringing all complaints under the one umbrella organisation, which will have the ASA as its public face (see Watchdog Predicts Rise In Advertising Complaints).
ASA: 020 7580 5555 www.asa.org.uk
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