Browsing: ASA

News
Calculating controversy: how far is too far?
By

Brands are always pissing people off whether intentionally or unintentionally. One only need look at Hell’s Pizza’s or Tui’s advertising to know that. But as that old saying goes “There’s no such thing as bad publicity”, and in light of Burgerfuel’s billboard being taken down recently, we thought we’d look into whether that’s really true. Here are a few case studies and some insights from a PR company’s perspective.

News
Horse’s Mouth: Hilary Souter
By

Being the one to tell people they’ve crossed the line is an unenviable responsibility at the best of times. But, despite having forged a career out of doing just that, Hilary Souter, the chief executive of the Advertising Standards Authority, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last year, is still smiling. So how does she keep it all together at the ASA?

News
Ad rage: the top ten most complained about ads of 2013
By

In 2013, the ASA received 792 complaints levelled at 598 advertisements that Kiwis found offensive, misleading or irresponsible. 313 of these complaints were found to have no grounds to proceed while 285 were were referred to the Complaints Board. In total 60 percent of the ads that reached the Complaints Board were either settled or upheld. Here’s a rundown of the 10 ads that angered the highest number of Kiwis last year.

News
Smoke jokes
By

There are plenty of rules around the advertising of cigarettes in New Zealand. And this one breaks them all. At least it would if it was a real ad and not a joke based on a fellatio pun.

News
ASA pulls plug on Instant Kiwi tabletop ads
By

It’s game over for Instant Kiwi’s table top advertising of its Space Invader scratchies. The Advertising Standards Authority’s Complaints Board has ruled it in breach of its Codes of Practice for promoting a gambling product appealing to minors.

News
A question of purity
By

Peter Nuttall thinks New Zealand is playing a game of risk with its 100% Pure brand and believes it is bordering on greenwash. Wayne Linklater explains.

News
ASA hauls Hakanoa and M&C Saatchi over the coals for offensive ginger campaign
By

Hakanoa Ginger Beer and M&C Saatchi got into a bit of PR strife a few months back after a campaign asking for parents to swap their red-haired kids for a six pack of ginger beer received a public scalding. After the public response—and despite claims about it being an attempt to raise awareness of the discrimination of ginger haired children—the campaign was pulled early. But the Advertising Standards Authority has upheld a complaint about it, saying the posters were socially irresponsible and discriminatory.

News
Moa comes out all square after ASA attention
By

Moa has its fair share of detractors, from threat-making Pakistanis to protective Frenchies to lesbians to those who disagreed with the imagery used in its, shall we say, unique prospectus. So it came as a shock to many when the trickster god of the Kiwi beer family was announced as a sponsor of the New Zealand Olympic team, a sponsorship we felt it did a fantastic job of leveraging online and in person at Kiwi house in London. And as part of its ‘Beer for Olympians’ campaign, it has had one complaint upheld and one not upheld by the ASA.

News
ASA lays down the social media law, stops short of Australia’s user generated content ruling—UPDATED
By

When the Australian Standards Bureau ruled that user generated content on Carlton United Breweries Facebook page could be classified as advertising and was therefore subject to the same criteria as any other ad, advertisers and advocates smacked their gobs and quivered in their boots because they felt on-the-fly moderation required to deal with comments was commercially impractical and would nullify the immediacy and openness that make social media so powerful. Now the Advertising Standards Authority in New Zealand has released its views on the matter, and while it doesn’t go quite as far as its neighbours, there are some interesting rulings that affect how brands interact with consumers online.

Opinion
Confessions of an advertising standards nitpicking professional
By

Around one year ago, Mi9’s Dan Robertson put his hand up to be a representative of the ‘dark side’ on the ASA complaints board. To his surprise, that label turned out to be bang on, with advertising that would in most cases generate complaints in other mediums often flying imperiously online. And, as online advertising takes a bigger slice of the pie, he thinks that needs to change.

News
Carefree ad discharged without conviction by the ASA
By

Stories about ASA complaints that weren’t upheld are generally the marcomms equivalent of ‘there was no accident on the bridge today’. But in the case of an advertisement for Carefree Acti-Fresh Panty Liners, otherwise known as vagina discharge-gate, we’ll make an exception, because none of the 18 complaints received will get to have their day in court.

News
ASA scotches Hauraki’s hangover ad
By

From ‘it’s not the drinking, it’s how we’re drinking’ to the ‘ghost chips’ legends, our collective love for the bottle has been referenced in advertising far too many times to count. Now a billboard for Radio Hauraki’s ‘Drive’ show that normalises drinking has fallen foul of the Advertising Standards Authority, but the same ad placed in the New Zealand Herald was deemed acceptable.