ASA Adjudication on MTV Networks Europe

Ad

An online ad, for an anti-smoking blog, showed a man lighting and smoking a cigarette. The ad stated “MTV Europe Music Awards. Smoke Screen. Watch their video blogs to win exclusive tickets! 10 Smokers. 5 Countries. 1 Month to stop … Jan Cage 36, German. Cutting Down. Status: Just smoked a cigarette."

Issue

The complainant, who felt the ad showed someone enjoying smoking, objected that the ad was irresponsible because it could be seen to glamorize smoking.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

MTV Networks Europe (MTV) said the ad was an anti-smoking initiative associated with the European Commissions HELP! Campaign, which encouraged young people from around Europe to enjoy a healthier lifestyle through quitting smoking. They said the ad was part of a broader pan-European campaign across a variety of MTV and Viacom owned websites. They pointed out that the premise of the campaign was to highlight the experience of ten individuals trying to quit smoking.

MTV said the first frame of the ad made clear that it was for an anti-smoking campaign and pointed out that the individual featured in the particular ad was described as "Cutting Down". They maintained that the video content, when edited into the internet ad, was cropped significantly and did not feature a setting that could be considered to be glamorous. MTV also pointed out that the offer, at the end of the ad, for free tickets to the MTV Europe Music awards was designed to encourage users to visit a website with information about quitting smoking.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA noted the complainants concern that the ad featured an image of an individual enjoying smoking. We noted, however, the ad and the wider campaign were focused as part of an anti-smoking campaign and considered that users would understand that that was the message from the associated text and content featured in the ad. Consequently, we considered that the ad was unlikely to glamorise smoking. We concluded that the ad was not in breach of the Code.

We investigated the ad under CAP Code clause 2.2 (Responsible advertising) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)