Ad description
An ad seen on online blogs depicted two dead dogs. Text stated "HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT GOING ON HOLIDAY TO ROMANIA? - BUYING ROMANIAN PRODUCTS? - EMPLOYING ROMANIANS WHEN THEY ARRIVE IN BRITAIN IN 2014? ROMANIA THE MOST DEPRAVED COUNTRY ON EARTH?" The ad linked to an online petition against actions taken by the Romanian government to deal with stray dogs.
Issue
Three complainants, who believed the ad was xenophobic, promoted hatred towards Romania and Romanians and could trigger anti-immigration sentiment, objected that the ad was irresponsible and likely to cause serious or widespread offence.
Response
Richard Thoburn said the purpose of the ad was to highlight the consequences of the reputational damage that was being done to Romania as a result of their cruel and inhumane treatment of dogs. He said that appeals to compassion did not seem to have achieved anything so the aim of the ad was to appeal to their self interest, by suggesting that knowledge of such actions might make people less likely to buy Romanian products, employ Romanians or travel there. He said there was no point in running such ads if media channels did not wish to carry them, or if readers found the images so appalling that they did not read the ad, and so if he chose not to use the ad in future it would be for such pragmatic reasons only.
Assessment
Upheld
We noted that the ad had appeared on political blogs, and that the readers of such blogs might expect to see more provocative ad content, but that advertisers still had a responsibility to ensure ads were not likely to cause serious or widespread offence. We considered that the content of the ad linked the Romanian people to the mistreatment or killing of dogs and implied that those who saw it should reconsider holidaying in Romania, buying Romanian products or employing Romanians, for that reason. Although the ad linked to a petition against actions taken by the Romanian government to deal with stray dogs, we did not consider this was reflected in the ad content, which focused on Romania and Romanian people in general. We considered that although it was legitimate to criticise the actions of a government, criticising a country's people, or a country in general, risked being seen as xenophobic and therefore causing serious or widespread offence. We considered that the ad, and in particular the statement "ROMANIA THE MOST DEPRAVED COUNTRY ON EARTH?", was likely to be seen as xenophobic and to cause serious and widespread offence to those who saw it. We therefore concluded that the ad breached the Code.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
1.3
1.3
Marketing communications must be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society.
(Social responsibility) and
4.1
4.1
Marketing communications must not contain anything that is likely to cause serious or widespread offence. Particular care must be taken to avoid causing offence on the grounds of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age. Compliance will be judged on the context, medium, audience, product and prevailing standards.
Marketing communications may be distasteful without necessarily breaching this rule. Marketers are urged to consider public sensitivities before using potentially offensive material.
The fact that a product is offensive to some people is not grounds for finding a marketing communication in breach of the Code.
(Harm and offence).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Richard Thoburn to ensure that future ads were not likely to cause serious or widespread offence, and to take particular care if referring to the actions of specific countries.
