Commercial for God tops league table of most 'offensive' ads

Published on Wednesday 26 May 2010 22:35

A BUS ad that declared "There definitely is a God", was the most complained-about advert of 2009, according to new figures.

• Bus ad claiming "There's probably no God.'' Complaints it was offensive to people of faith but ASA said it was merely an expression of opinion.

The Christian Party ad has topped the Advertising Standards Authority's top-10 most complained-about adverts in 2009, attracting 1,204 complaints.

The ad, which in full read "There definitely is a God. So join the Christian Party and enjoy your life", was a response to the British Humanist Association's bus ad, "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life", unveiled earlier in the year.

The Christian Party ad attracted about three times more complaints than the British Humanist Association (BHA) commercial, which came sixth in the top 10, receiving 392 complaints.

Neither complaint was investigated as the Christian Party ad was political and therefore fell outside the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) remit, while the BHA ad was ruled to be an expression of the advertiser's opinion.

• The ten most complained about ads of 2009

Andrew Copson, BHA chief executive, said: "Our adverts were a light-hearted response to exactly the kind of dogma that says people must be told what to believe and how to live, often accompanied by the threat of punishment in another world.

"It is with some satisfaction that the public chose to complain about an advert that did not want them to decide for themselves about the existence of God, rather than encouraging them to make their own minds up as ours did.

"Working for freedom of speech, expression and belief is at the very core of the humanist tradition and at the heart of all the BHA's work, and we were quite happy for Christian groups to mimic our own successful campaign."

The figures were published in the ASA's annual report 2009. The Christian Party was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.

The total number of complaints to the ASA increased by 9.6 per cent to 28,978, although the number of ads attracting complaints declined by 10 per cent to 13,956.

ASA rulings led to 2,397 ads or campaigns being changed or withdrawn.

Volkswagen produced the second most complained-about ad, with 1,070 objections, for including graphic scenes of a man fighting his clones. The ASA partly upheld the complaints.

HomePride took third place with 804 complaints for an oven cleaner ad reading: "So easy, even a man can do it." The ASA ruled that the ad was tongue in cheek and did not uphold the complaints that it was offensive.

The ASA did uphold complaints over a poster for an unlicensed medicine to improve performance in the bedroom ruling that the line "Want longer lasting SEX" was potentially offensive on a poster which children could see. ASA chairman Lord Chris Smith said: "We share concerns about the need to protect children from inappropriate content."