Ad description
An email titled “She’s under the patio” seen 14 June 2022. The ad featured a heading “Happy Fathers [sic] Day …” and included a picture of Fred West. Text underneath stated, “This week we take a look at the Father’s [sic] famous for all the wrong reasons … Fred West became known in the 1990’s [sic] when it was revealed him and his wife, Rosemary, were involved in 12 murders of young women in Gloucester. One of their victims was their own daughter … of which [sic] when she was missing they would often joke of her being ‘buried under the patio’ TAKE 10% OFF THIS FATHERS DAY Use code ‘FATHERSDAY’ at the check out [sic]. Offer ends midnight Sunday 19th June 2022.” Under that, a button stated “READ THE FRED WEST BLOG HERE”. The ad also featured an image of a dead body cut open through the stomach with its organs visible.
Issue
Three complainants challenged whether the ad was likely to cause serious or widespread offence.Response
ITAE Productions Ltd said that they did not believe the ad was offensive. They said that Fred West was notorious for murder, but that he was also a father, and that this was relevant to his crimes. They said that they considered it to be socially acceptable to share history that was relevant to occasions when there was a factual or direct link between the two, which in this case they believed to be Fred West’s crimes and Father’s Day. They said that they believed the death of Jesus and the promotion of products over the Easter period to be comparative to the strategy they employed in their ad. They said that the ad was created to align with Father’s Day and their subsequent 10% off promotion, and that they did not believe it was offensive to use the promotional code “FATHERSDAY” in relation to Fred West.
ITAE also said that the subject title of the email “She’s under the patio” was a fact and not created for entertainment purposes. They said it was well documented that it was a quote said by Fred West as a “family joke” and that consumers would be familiar with this. They said that they chose the text as it was synonymous with the case, and as such, believed it would engage audiences and give them an understanding of the content included in the email. They also said it was chosen because it was under the 50-character limit for the subject title.In relation to the headline “Happy Fathers [sic] Day …” directly followed by an image of Fred West, they said that the use of ellipsis suggested that there was more to the ad rather than being an isolated statement. They also said that the use of inverted commas around “buried under the patio” indicated that it was a quote and referred to an historical fact.Finally, they said that the mailing list was devised of past guests, those who had previously purchased tickets, or had signed up to receive emails.
Assessment
Upheld
The CAP Code stated that marketing communications must not contain anything that was likely to cause serious or widespread offence. It also stated that references to anyone who was dead must be handled with particular care to avoid causing offence or distress, and that advertisers must not use a shocking claim or image merely to attract attention.
The ASA acknowledged that the audience was made up of those who had previously attended a live dissection event held by ITAE or those who had actively signed up to the newsletter and, therefore, were unlikely to find the image of a dead body with visible organs offensive within the context of promoting a similar event. However, the reference to Fred West was not in itself relevant when promoting a Father’s Day discount code to be used against future ITAE events.
Fred West was a notorious serial killer and rapist who abused his children and murdered his daughter Heather West. Fred West’s crimes had been a high-profile and long-running media story which remained widely known to the public. The ad contained an image of Fred West underneath the text “Happy Fathers Day”, as well as the promotional code “FATHERSDAY”. We also noted that the email was sent on 14 June 2022, in the lead up to Father’s Day which was on 19 June 2022. We did not consider that there was a convincing connection between Fred West and Father’s Day, nor did we consider his status as a father relevant to being included in any Father’s Day marketing communications. Rather, we considered that by associating Fred West with Father’s Day, readers would likely interpret this as a celebration of a serial killer and rapist. We considered that any reference to or celebration of a serial killer or rapist was likely to be distressing, and that in the context of an ad promoting a Father’s Day discount, the distress caused was unjustified. We further considered that this distress would have been heightened in view of Fred West’s own actions as a father, and particularly for those who may have experienced abuse from a family member. We considered that conflating Fred West with the celebration of Father’s Day was intended to create shock value and contributed to the ad’s offensive nature.We understood that the subject line of the ad, “She’s under the patio”, referred to the murder of Heather West and the subsequent concealment of her body. We considered that using the murder of a young woman, in order to shock readers into clicking on the ad, was gratuitous and likely to cause serious offence. We considered that the treatment of Ms West in the ad was dehumanising, especially within the context of an ad which used her murder as a tool to promote a discount code. Furthermore, we considered the tone of the ad was flippant, and that this approach trivialised the circumstances surrounding the murder of the victims, as well as making light of distressing and serious crimes. Consequently, we considered that the ad did not treat Fred West’s victims with respect or sensitivity.
For those reasons, we concluded the ad was likely to cause unjustified distress and serious and widespread offence. The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule
1.3
1.3
Advertisements must comply with the law and broadcasters must make that a condition of acceptance.
(Social Responsibility),
4.1
4.1
Advertisements must contain nothing that could cause physical, mental, moral or social harm to persons under the age of 18.
4.2
4.2
Advertisements must not cause serious or widespread offence against generally accepted moral, social or cultural standards.
Particular care must be taken to avoid causing offence on the grounds of: age; disability; gender; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; and sexual orientation.
and
4.3
4.3
Advertisements must not exploit the special trust that persons under the age of 18 place in parents, guardians, teachers or other persons.
(Harm and Offence).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told ITAE Productions Ltd to ensure they avoided causing serious and widespread offence and distress, and that references to the dead were handled with particular care.
