Stuart Smith on COI

First there was the unfortunate reminder that public information advertising expenditure has soared to pole position in the past year, comfortably ahead of Procter & Gamble’s.

Then there was the news that the ASA has had to admonish a department of state for the second time in a few days. On this occasion, it was Honest Al at the Home Office who had transgressed. Apparently, he has been putting it about that neighbourhood bobbies will be spending “80%” of their time on the beat. Not so, says the ASA, which banned the broadcast ad on three counts.

The ban comes hot on the heels of another ASA reprimand, this time to Ed Miliband’s department of energy and climate change (DECC), which had been caught sensationalising climate change. Ofcom is investigating on the grounds that it looks suspiciously like a politically motivated campaign just before a general election.
As if…