Bluebird Ad Withdrawn
Bluebirds Foods has withdrawn an advertisment for its potato chips after a compaint to the Advertising Standards Authority by the Obesity Action Coalition.
Not happy with this victory, the OAC is saying that the current system doesn’t work and is demanding that advertising be regulated.
Among its failures is the fact that action is only taken to review an ad once a complaint has been made. This means that vulnerable consumers are always exposed to the irresponsible and misleading ads for some time before they are withdrawn. The ASA say that complaints are dealt with in about 24 days from the time they are received. So, at best, it is weeks before an offending ad is withdrawn.
Like all those who would regulate our speech, they know best and they’re willing to prevent us, the poor “vulnerable consumers” from hearing “irresponsible” information that might lead us to make a choice that they disapprove of.
