Ad description
A TV ad for British Seniors life insurance, seen in February 2025, featured a grandmother with her grandson, who was an infant. One scene featured the infant sleeping, lying on his front in a cot with a soft toy, and the grandmother placing a second soft toy down next to him. A voiceover stated, “Now I’m retired I want to make sure my grandson is protected”.
Issue
Four complainants, who understood the infant was shown in an unsafe sleep position associated with Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI), challenged whether the ad was irresponsible because it condoned or encouraged an unsafe practice.
Response
Neilson Financial Services Ltd t/a British Seniors said that the child in the ad was two years old at the time of filming and was therefore older than the target age for guidance relating to sleep positions associated with SUDI. They said the child was able to place himself into the position within the cot and he was not asleep during the scene. They did not believe that the short scene which involved the child would cause harm or condone practices detrimental to children’s health.
Clearcast said that the scene in the ad was very brief and the baby was not seen being placed in the cot in an unsafe position. The baby’s mother would have been on set to ensure the welfare of the baby.
Assessment
Not upheld
The ASA understood that babies whose heads were covered were at an increased risk of SUDI and that NHS Guidance stated babies should be placed on their back and should not be put to sleep on their front or on their side. We understood that advice applied to babies under the age of one year who were not able to roll themselves onto their front and back.
The ad featured a short scene of a child being carried by his grandmother followed by a scene which fleetingly appeared to show him lying on his front in a cot. As he was being carried, the child appeared to be able to support his own head. Although the scene was short, we considered that in the first shot the child appeared to be over the age of six months, especially due to the fact he could support his own head. Given that context, we considered that viewers would reasonably understand that the child was old enough to roll himself over and independently place himself into a natural sleep position.
The scene of the child on his front in the cot was very fleeting and the grandmother was not seen to place the child into the cot. We considered that the focus of the ad was on the grandmother and not on the child, and that there was nothing in the ad which indicated the grandmother had placed the child in the cot in a manner which contravened NHS Guidance.
We understood that the position shown was potentially an unsafe sleep position for younger babies. However, because of the apparent age of the child, the brevity of the scene and the fact that the baby was not seen being actively placed into that position, we considered that the ad did not condone or encourage unsafe practices. We therefore concluded that the ad did not breach the Code.
We investigated the ad under BCAP Code rules 1.2 (Social responsibility), 4.1 (Harm and offence), and 5.3 (Children), but did not find it in breach.
Action
No further action necessary.
