Government Euro Ad Under Fire

A series of Government advertisements aimed at encouraging businesses to prepare for the impact of the Euro received several complaints from viewers. The complaints fell into two categories; the first was that people objected to the bullying nature of the boss featured in the advert, and the other was that the advert was nothing more than political propaganda designed to make viewers see the Euro in a favourable light. Despite the fact that 106 viewers complained, the Independent Television Commission (ITC) decided not to uphold any of the complaints.

One hundred and seventy-five viewers also complained about the series of commercials, by the Swedish furniture chain IKEA, that featured a spoof Swedish psychiatrist poking fun at typical English behaviour.

The basis for the complaints were that the adverts were offensive or racist with many people asking whether the campaign would ever have appeared if a different nationality had been the subject of the jokes. This complaint was not upheld as the ITC did not think that the campaign exploited a negative national or racial stereotype in a way likely to encourage prejudice.

An advert for the Nintendo F1 World Grand Prix game has had complaints from 8 viewers upheld against it. The viewers complained that a part of the advert which stated that the game had an instant replay for individual manoeuvres was misleading. This was not possible because the instant replay facility was only available for completed laps.

Independent Television Commission: 0171 306 7743