5 of Britain's most controversial TV ads

5 of Britain's most controversial TV ads

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Wednesday, 8th April 2015

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has found that an advert calling for people to "ship this bed" has not breached advertising rules.

Ten people complained that the use of the word 'ship' in the Bedworld advert had been used in place of a swear word, with another five objected to the scheduling of the programming during times when children could be watching.

While the ASA did not uphold objections against the use of the word 'ship', it concluded that scheduling restrictions should be in place to reduce the possibility of children mishearing the advert.

This is just the latest in a long history of adverts sailing close to the wind. We took a look at some of the UK's most controversial television ads in recent years.

Booking.com

The ASA received 2345 complaints about an advert for travel website Booking.com in February. As in the Bedworld case, the second most complained-about advert of all time caused many viewers to believe the word 'booking' was a substitute for a swear word.

While the ASA recognised that some viewers may have found the word-play distasteful, it did not believe it would cause widespread offence or encourage swearing among children.

Red Bull

A cartoon advert for energy drink Red Bull compelled over 100 people to complain to the ASA.

The advert suggested that passengers on board the Titanic might have needed wings on board the ship.

Although the advertising watchdog recognised that some may have found the advert distasteful, it did not believe it caused widespread offence.

Department of Health anti-smoking campaign

The Advertising Standards Authority banned an ad campaign by the Department of Health back in 2007, after it ruled that the clips could cause fear and distress among children.

The campaign, which focused on a man being dragged along by a fish hook in his mouth, caused 774 viewers to complain.

Despite the ad being pulled from TV, the Department of Health reported that the campaign, which also featured posters, press and online ads, had resulted in its web and phone support being contacted more than 820,000 times.

Marmite

More than 500 people complained that an advert for sticky spread Marmite trivialised the work of child and animal welfare charities.

The 2013 advert, narrated by BBC journalist Michael Buerk, showed officials storming kitchen cupboards to rescue forgotten jars of the spread.

The ASA did not uphold the complaints, stating that it was clearly a spoof, however the complaints caused Marmite owner Unilever to donate £18,000 to the RSPCA.

KFC

A 2005 advert for KFC's Zinger Crunch Salad was at one point the most complained-about advert of all time in the UK.

Over 1671 people complained that the advert, which showed emergency call centre workers singing with their mouths full, could encourage bad manners among children.

Unsurprisingly, the complaints were not upheld.

By Pippa Shawley

@PippaShawley

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