Tag Archives: advertising standards authority

Caron Lindsay

Julian Huppert welcomes advertising ban rethink

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 1st February 2014 - 4:23 pm

The Advertising Standards Authority is a funny old body sometimes. There are occasions when it overlooks quite outrageous flouting of infant feeding regulations in formula advertisements (although one such ad was banned this week for making misleading claims). Then last week it tried to ban a Cycling Scotland advert on public safety grounds because it showed a cyclist not wearing a helmet and cycling too far into the road. The positioning was later proven to be entirely consistent with the Highway Code and it is not a legal requirement to wear a helmet.

There is, in fact, some controversy in the …

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Posted in News | Also tagged and | 6 Comments
Tim Farron MP

Tim Farron MP writes… The ASA and me – a response

By Tim Farron MP | Wed 28th March 2012 - 6:51 pm

I’m aware that my signing of a letter to the ASA about the power of prayer has caused a stir. I thought I should just clarify what I actually think on this.

I completely understand why some of you are concerned. It’s not a well-worded letter – the reference to the ASA providing indisputable evidence is silly, and the implication that people should seek faith healing at the expense of medical intervention is something that I just don’t believe in. For what it’s worth, I also think that the Fabrice Muamba reference is crass. So on all those fronts, I should just say sorry and not bother defending myself. I shouldn’t have signed that letter as it was written, so I apologise for putting some of you in quite a difficult position.

However, my reasons for agreeing to raise a concern with the ASA are simply these:

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Posted in Op-eds | 51 Comments
David Parkes

Opinion: 3 Liberal Criticisms of Stephen Tall’s defence of Tim Farron

By David Parkes | Wed 28th March 2012 - 3:58 pm

Lib Dem Voice co-editor Stephen Tall has produced his 3 liberal reasons to stick up for Tim Farron. Now Stephen is a man I respect and who writes a lot of sense, but on this occasion I beg leave to disagree.

To that end I thought I’d give 3 liberal reasons to criticise Stephen Tall’s defence of our party president Tim Farron. We are of course talking about the storm Tim Farron created by co-signing a letter to the Advertising Standards Agency urging the ASA to overturn a ban on a Christian group claiming prayer could cure medical conditions.

(1) …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 19 Comments
Stephen Tall

In defence of Tim Farron: 3 liberal reasons to stick up for him

By Stephen Tall | Tue 27th March 2012 - 11:50 am

Lib Dem party president Tim Farron has caused something of a storm within the party by co-signing a letter in his capacity as Vice Chair of the ‘Christians in Parliament’ group urging the Advertising Standards Authority to withdraw their ruling “that the Healing On The Streets ministry in Bath are no longer able to claim, in their advertising, that God can heal people from medical conditions.” The controversy is easy to understand, as it pits two tenets of liberalism against each other: free speech and rational scepticism.

Personally, I am very happy to defend Tim Farron’s stance. Here’s three …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 85 Comments
Mark Valladares

Has Tim Farron got a prayer against the Advertising Standards Authority?

By Mark Valladares | Tue 27th March 2012 - 7:49 am

In a rather unexpected departure from the usual activities of the Party Presidency, Tim Farron, in his role as a Vice Chair of the ‘Christians in Parliament’ group, has co-signed a letter to the Advertising Standards Agency;

Rt Hon Lord Smith of Finsbury
Chairman, Advertising Standards Agency
21st March 2012

We are writing on behalf of the all-party Christians in Parliament group in Westminster and your ruling that the Healing On The Streets ministry in Bath are no longer able to claim, in their advertising, that God can heal people from medical conditions.

We write to express our concern at this decision and to enquire

…

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Posted in News and Party Presidency | Also tagged | 45 Comments
Caron Lindsay

So, what was Jo Swinson doing in Private Eye?

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 15th February 2012 - 11:55 am

You always take a bit of a sharp intake of breath if you see one of your lot mentioned in Private Eye. However, this time, our Jo Swinson is the hero of the story. The current issue drew my attention to her most recent victory over cosmetics giant L’Oreal although the article isn’t available online. The Advertising Standards Authority recently banned another advert from the company, the third complained about by Jo. It featured actress Rachel Weisz and the ASA concluded that:

Although we considered that the image in the ad did not misrepresent the luminosity or wrinkling of

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 1 Comment
Helen Duffett

Charles Kennedy MP: No2AV ads “shocking and outrageous”

By Helen Duffett | Fri 25th February 2011 - 11:49 am

Charles Kennedy MP has urged Liberal Democrat members and supporters to take action by registering their disappointment and disgust at the advertising tactics of the No2AV campaign.

The No campaign recently took out a two-page advertisement in the Birmingham Mail claiming that a sick baby “needs a new cardiac facility NOT an alternative voting system”. The ad misleadingly implies that the public must choose between an alternative voting system and frontline services.

Here’s what Charles said in his email this morning:

Over recent days No2AV have published a series of ads in local papers that can be described as distasteful at best,

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , and | 17 Comments
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