ASA Upholds Complaints About Channel Four Suicide Posters

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld complaints against Channel 4 for using poster advertising which could have encouraged suicide attempts. The poster, promoting a documentary about base jumping, showed the feet and legs of a person standing right on the edge of a tall building. The feet were half off the edge and the view was straight down to the road below. Large letters on the poster read “Go on. Jump”.

The poster was actually for a Cutting Edge documentary about the extreme sport of base jumping, which involves free-fall parachuting off tall buildings. Channel 4 said that it had taken steps to ensure it was clear that the programme was about the sport, not suicide, by replacing the title of the programme, “Seconds to Impact” with “Confessions of a Base Jumper” on the poster. They also told the ITC that they were trying to be “innovative and unusual” with their advertising, and that the poster was designed to be “provocative and visually arresting and to convey the danger and adrenaline of the sport.” The advertisers believed that the poster neither condoned nor incited suicide.

The ASA decided that the prominence of the “Go on. Jump.” text with the image of the person on the edge of the building could have encouraged members of the public to commit suicide and was irresponsible. As the poster had already been removed by the time the complaints were dealt with, and would not be used again, the ASA reminded the advertisers of the codes prohibiting advertisements from encouraging dangerous practices.

ASA: 020 7580 5555 www.asa.org.uk Channel 4: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.com

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