Wednesday, October 09, 2013
Advertising Standards Authority rules on Home Office vans
Although the Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that the poster campaign telling illegal migrants to “go home or face arrest” did not stir up racial hatred, they have slapped the Home Office on the wrist for getting their facts wrong. As a result a spokesperson has now confirmed that the posters will not be used again in their current format.
The Times reports that the Home Office scheme, in which vans bearing the adverts toured parts of London, led to more than 200 complaints to the UK advertising watchdog:
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said that while the phrase “Go home” was “reminiscent of slogans used in the past to attack immigrants”, the context in this case was different and was unlikely to cause distress.
However, the regulator criticised the Home Office project for making misleading claims about the number of arrests of illegal immigrants, and banned it from using the same wording again. The ASA took issue with the posters’ claim of “106 arrests last week in your area”. The phrase, it said, was “misleading and could not be substantiated” because it applied to a large swath of North London rather than a specific locality.
The Home Office spokesperson told the paper: “This campaign was about encouraging illegal immigrants to leave voluntarily and was not targeted at racial or ethnic groups.”
Really? I have difficulty believing that and so do many others.
The Times reports that the Home Office scheme, in which vans bearing the adverts toured parts of London, led to more than 200 complaints to the UK advertising watchdog:
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said that while the phrase “Go home” was “reminiscent of slogans used in the past to attack immigrants”, the context in this case was different and was unlikely to cause distress.
However, the regulator criticised the Home Office project for making misleading claims about the number of arrests of illegal immigrants, and banned it from using the same wording again. The ASA took issue with the posters’ claim of “106 arrests last week in your area”. The phrase, it said, was “misleading and could not be substantiated” because it applied to a large swath of North London rather than a specific locality.
The Home Office spokesperson told the paper: “This campaign was about encouraging illegal immigrants to leave voluntarily and was not targeted at racial or ethnic groups.”
Really? I have difficulty believing that and so do many others.
