A suggestion that French toast with maple syrup might be a healthy option and a blood splattered film poster are just two of the ads which recently fell foul of the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland.
A poster for the release of the horror movie “Sinister 2” attracted most complaints. It featured two boys looking at a wall on which an image of the face of a ‘monster’ is painted in dripping blood . Child hand prints, also in blood, are shown.
All told there were eight complaints received with all of them saying the image was unsuitable for display on bus shelters where they could be seen by children.
In response the advertiser, Entertainment One UK, said it did not consider the ad explicit, violent or gory. The ASAI begged to differ and its complaints committee said it was likely to frighten children and should not appear again.
Another person booked an all-inclusive holiday with Expedia but when he got his itinerary his booking only included breakfast.
He aksed about the all-inclusive plan and was once again told his booking included breakfast only. He queried this and was ignored. Expedia also ignored the ASAI which it said was a cause of concern.
It upheld the complaint.
An ad for eir invited consumers to check out their online broadband coverage map to see if their house was fibre broadband enabled. A complainant did that and was told his home was good to go.
But when he tried to have the service installed he was told the service was not available at his address as he was too far away from an exchange. In response , Eir apologised and blamed an anomaly in its system .
The Complaints Committee noted that this was not the first time they had addressed this issue with the advertisers, formerly known as eircom. In its report it said it considered it unacceptable to provide consumers with a service which did not provide accurate information.
A Lidl promotion page featured a recipe for "Healthy eggy Bread." The recipe was accompanied by a picture of three thick slices of French toast on a plate with strawberries and blueberries scattered on top of the bread and around the plate. The top slice of French toast was spread with maple syrup which was dripping down the other two slices.
A “top tip” was provided alongside the above which stated “add fresh fruit or crispy bacon and maple or golden syrup to the bread for an extra special treat”. The recipe and method to make the “Healthy eggy bread” were also provided alongside the information that the recipe would serve four hungry children.
A complainant said that, while she was not a nutritionist, she considered what was offered by the advertisers as a “Healthy” breakfast was far from such. She also considered that the absence of any solid nutritional information to accompany the recipe was misleading by omission.
Lidl reviewed the recipe in question and concluded that describing the eggy bread as being ‘Healthy’ “could indeed be regarded as somewhat far-reaching, owing to the absence of solid nutritional information for such a claim”.
The retailer said that it had never been their intention to mislead their customers with the recipe provided, but rather, in good faith they had wished to provide a quick and easy recipe option to assist them with back to school preparations.
