The Irish Heart Foundation (IHF) has strongly criticised the advertising watchdog after it rejected several complaints which the advocacy group claimed encouraged unhealthy eating habits in children.
The Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) rejected outright three complaints made by the IHF concerning advertisements for donuts, Nutella and a flavoured milk made by Glanbia. It upheld, in part, two complaints the IHF made about online advertisements by Apache Pizza.
Helena O’Donnell, advocacy and campaigns officer with the IHF, claimed the ASAI was relying on the explanations provided by brands during the complaints adjudication process, and complained about the regulatory model overseeing the online and outdoor advertising markets.
“We think self-regulation isn’t strong enough and we need new laws to protect children’s health,” she said. “[The ASAI] is not even monitoring [ads], they’re just accepting what brands say. All the rules are set by them and they’re industry funded.”
In response, the ASAI said its code was based on extensive consultation, including with non-industry stakeholders. “High standards in protecting children over advertising content is central to the code across all media, including social and online. An independent committee, predominantly non-industry based, rules on ad breaches,” a spokeswoman said.
She said the ASAI was a contributor to a voluntary Department of Health code on food advertising, and "has been considering what changes will be required to the food section of its code" arising from this process. It said it engaged in regular monitoring activity.
The IHF had complained certain features of the ads were designed to be attractive to children.
In one complaint, it argued that an ad on Instagram for Offbeat Donuts featured three children watching the Late Late Toy Show, and encouraged viewers to "grab a box of our new Christmas flavours to enjoy with the whole family". The ASAI found the average age of followers of the page was 25, and that the content was not specifically targeted at children,
The IHF complaint about Nutella’s ad, also on Instagram, said a post for World Nutella Day featured alphabet letters covered in chocolate and became a video of flashing images showing “my Mum” and “my Dad” cartoons dressed as superheroes.
The ASAI found that 85 per cent of the audience for the post were adults, and the advertising was neither addressed to children nor did it place undue pressure on them to have Nutella.
Overall, the ASAI upheld complaints about 19 of 26 advertisements submitted to it, including one about an ad for bookmaker Paddy Power which referenced the 800-year long occupation of Ireland by England in the context of a rugby match between the two nations. The advertisement, which apologised for "the last two years of pain, suffering and humiliation" before promising that after "another 798 we'll be even" was the subject of six complaints.
Complainants said the ad was racist, offensive and anti-English in sentiment, and “unhelpful in the context of Brexit”. In a lengthy response, Paddy Power said the ad referenced the “friendly sporting rivalry” between England and Ireland and “the poor performance of the English rugby team against the Irish rugby team over the previous two years”.
It conceded the ad “contained a double-entendre, intended as a humorous reference to publicly debated English misfortunes since the Brexit referendum two years ago”. The ASAI, however, was unconvinced and found that the ad was likely to cause offence.
Elsewhere, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) rejected five complaints. One featured a famous movie clip of a woman faking an orgasm from the film ‘When Harry met Sally’. The clip was used on a morning radio show, but the BAI rejected a complaint that children would be inappropriately exposed to the content due to the time it was broadcast.
