ASA Adjudication on The South Bank Board Ltd

Ad

An insert in the Guardian listed events for Jarvis Cocker's Meltdown festival at the Southbank Centre. On the inside cover the leaflet text stated "Saturday 16 June ... MOTORHEAD + SELFISH CUNT". The text underneath stated "... with support from the aggressive and uncompromising Selfish Cunt".

Issue

The complainant said that the ad was offensive and inappropriate for inclusion in a newspaper where children might see it.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

The South Bank Board Ltd (Southbank Centre) said the rationale was to present the programme for Jarvis Cocker's Meltdown Festival clearly and comprehensively, including the correct names of all artists appearing, so as to not misrepresent the programme. The South Bank said they had no control over the artists' names and that they were listed as specified by their representatives.

The Guardian agreed with the point of view offered by the Southbank Centre and added that they had not directly received any complaints about the ad. They said only 16 per cent of readers were aged 15 to 24 years old and the average age of readers was 35 to 44 years old.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted the readership data prepared by the Guardian and noted that it was not targeted specifically at children. We acknowledged that the Southbank Centre presented the programme for Jarvis Cocker's Meltdown Festival clearly and comprehensively and that the band names presented in the leaflet were as specified by the band's representatives. However, because the leaflet was inserted into a national newspaper, we concluded that the band's name was likely to cause serious or widespread offence or harm to children.

The ad breached CAP Code clauses 5.1 (decency) and 47.1 (children).

Action

The ad should not be repeated.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)