ASA News

The Top Ten Most Complained About ads of 2006

10 May 2007

ASA today reveals the ten most complained about advertisements for 2006 with publication of its Annual Report. A national press ad for the Gay Police Association, featuring a Bible next to a pool of blood, tops this list having received 553 complaints. Religious groups, such as Christian Watch, raised objections because of the suggestion that homophobic attacks were religiously motivated. Some of the complaints were upheld, with the ASA agreeing the ad judged to be misleading and offensive.

The top ten list shows the public's growing concern for any ads that might glamorise violence. Two of the top ten most complained about ads were objected to on these grounds. The third most complained about ad is a highly stylised national press ad by Dolce & Gabbana, which shows models brandishing knives and others with wounds, apparently inspired by paintings of the Napoleonic period. After an investigation prompted by 166 objections, the ASA upheld the complaints. Another press ad, which was also deemed socially irresponsible by complainants for encouraging violence, is an ad for Motorola featuring a man wielding a knife. However, the complaints were not upheld as the ASA concluded the image was clearly a pun to coincide with the tagline "The Cutting Edge of Technology".

Complaints about French Connection's television ad depicting a martial arts contest between two women, who end up kissing, were not upheld. The ASA disagreed with complainants that the ad reflected criminal assault or that the kiss was offensive, given its post watershed broadcasting time. Similarly, complaints were not upheld about a Channel 5 ad that some viewers argued might incite racial violence. The ad carries the strapline "Nothing good ever came out of America" and is meant to be ironic, given the Channel prides itself on celebrating American TV shows. After investigation the ASA concluded that the ad was not likely to cause serious or widespread offence or incite violence.