Smoking ban adverts to be investigated
The Advertising Standards Authority is to ask for proof to substantiate claims made by the Department of Health about the dangers of passive smoking.
The watchdog will act after receiving 26 complaints about the 'Invisible Killer’ TV ads which featured cigarette smoke blowing around a wedding party and into the mouths and noses of non-smokers.
We would expect the respondents to provide evidence to support their claims
Donna Mitchell from the ASA.
The complainants said the ad was scaremongering, would cause undue fear to non-smokers and challenged whether there is a proven link between second-hand smoke and a raised risk of contracting specific diseases.
Donna Mitchell from the ASA told morningadvertiser.co.uk: ”We will be investigating and publishing a report in due course.
“We will ask the advertising agency or the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre – which cleared the ad for use on television – to explain its rationale for clearing the ad.
“The responses will go to our ASA Council for consideration.”
Mitchell said a lot of the complaints had been about the dangers of passive smoking.
She said: “We would expect them (the respondents) to provide evidence to support their claims.”
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