ASA bans Wanadoo ‘scrapyard’ TV ads

Wanadoo has been forced to pull its latest television ad after the Advertising Standards Authority ruled that it was “irresponsible” to show young people playing in a scrapyard.

The campaign, which was created by M&C Saatchi, triggered 68 complaints. It featured a group of young people cavorting in a scrapyard and a couple kissing in the back seat of a wrecked car.

The ASA decreed that the kiss was “much too graphic” for daytime television and that the location was “irresponsible”. It has ruled that the ad should no longer be shown.

Marmite has been told that its “blob” ads cannot be shown at times when children might be watching. The ASA upheld complaints about two DDB London-created Marmite ads, which shows people running away screaming from a giant blob of the spread.

The watchdog also upheld five different complaints from the Food Commission about a leaflet promoting Popzone soft drinks, which was inserted in nhs Family Choice magazine. It has ordered that the leaflet be amended so that it does not suggest that the NHS endorses the drinks.

A complaint about a newspaper ad for the Seat Altea, featuring five packaged condoms and the slogan “perform safely”, has not been upheld.