ASA Unmoved By Defence Of Charity

Complaints regarding a poster appealing for money for baby charity Tommy’s were upheld by the ASA this week, after it was concluded that it was misleading with regards to what contributions would be spent on.

The objections came from members of the public and another charity, BLISS, which funds the care of newborn children. Concerns were raised that the poster, which showed a cartoon of a zebra in hospital, holding a baby zebra. Text on the poster read “Your 50p will keep a premature baby alive for 1.8 seconds. Please give generously.” At the bottom it said “£15 will help Tommy’s put an end to miscarriage, premature birth and stillbirth.”. The complainants said that the implication was that contributions would be used to keep babies alive, when in fact the charity funded research.

The advertisers’ defence was that the poster was meant to highlight that it was expensive to run a premature baby unit. The charity believes that by funding research the NHS could be saved from the expense of supporting premature babies. They pointed out that the second strapline, at the bottom, made it clear that the money was for research. They also said that they felt that the message in the advert was consistent with their dedication to raising awareness of the subject and pointed out that callers to the number on the advert were told at the outset that donations were used to fund research.

The Authority agreed with the claimants that the advert misleadingly implied donations would go towards the cost of supporting a premature baby, and asked for the advertisement to be amended. The advertisers were also told to take more care in future to make clear how donations would be used.

ASA: 020 7580 5555 www.asa.org.uk

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