ASA probes Jamie’s Dinners outdoor ads
Poster ads for Channel 4 television series Jamie’s School Dinners are under investigation by the advertising watchdog, following complaints from women and the gay community.
The complainants say that two aspects of the campaign – a pair of breasts drawn in a graffiti style and the scrawled words “Stick your carrots up your arse” – are offensive to women and gay men respectively.
The ad triggered 17 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). Complainants also labelled the ad “irresponsible”, as it appears to condone graffiti.
Separately, United Biscuits-owned McVitie’s has been censured by the ASA for misleadingly implying that its Go Ahead! cereal bars and cakes are healthy snacks. A press ad for the snack range, which focused on the fat content alone, showed a slim woman in a yoga class, with an empty cake wrapper lying by her leg. It used the strapline “Can’t wait? Go ahead… Go Ahead! is the healthier choice.”
The ASA has also upheld complaints against Penta UK, over a leaflet that misleadingly implies that the company’s bottled water product has health benefits over and above those of other brands. The ad claims: “Penta is ultra-purified, restructured micro-water.” The authority has ruled that the claim is misleading.
