Painful Verdict For Bayer From ASA

Bayer, a manufacturer of pain relief tablets has had its advert banned by the ASA after offending Hindus with an image of people practising yoga stamped with the word “Rubbish”.

The advertisement, which appeared in Metro, showed the yoga image on the left hand side, and had a pack shot on the other. The text ran “Go out have a laugh be alright…double action pain relief plus caffeine.”

The objection, made by the World Hindu Association, was that the advert encouraged people to take caffeine instead of practising Yoga and Hindu worship and that the image of a man making the “namaste” greeting overlaid with the word “Rubbish” was offensive to Hindus and yoga practitioners.

The ASA noted that the ad was part of a series that featured other exercise activities as well as yoga. Although it thought it unlikely that people would be encouraged to take caffeine instead of practising yoga or Hindu worship, it considered that the “Rubbish” image was likely to cause serious or widespread offence and told the advertisers not to repeat it.

This is the second time in as many weeks that one of this series of Bayer ads has had a complaint upheld against it. Last week a washroom ad featuring an image of a muscled man lifting a dumbell, marked “SAD!” was condemned as irresponsible for encouraging excessive drinking. Bayer was again told not to repeat the ad.

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

Recent Advertising stories from NewsLine: Children’s Media Literacy Initiative To Launch IPC Bags £1m Kraft Relaunch Campaign Bogus Brand Proves Airport Ad Cut Through

Subscribers can access ten years of media news and analysis in the Archive