ASA clears BT over ad complaints

The geek and the gremlins let off the hook

Ian Williams, vnunet.com 16 Jul 2008

Two BT adverts have been cleared by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) following complaints from viewers.

One ad showed a mother and daughter arguing over the girl's constant use of the internet.

At the end of the ad the mother expressed concern that her daughter may be a 'geek' rather than expressing concerns about the security of her internet use, because the family used the parental controls offered by BT.

The ASA received several complaints that the ad encouraged or condoned parents' letting their children use the internet unsupervised, and implied that the parental control software offered by BT would protect children from all online threats.

BT argued that the ad reflected the reality of modern life by highlighting the pressures on parents to regulate children's access to the internet.

The telco claimed that it was not its intention to encourage children to use the internet unsupervised, but to highlight the need for parental controls to keep children safe.

The ASA concluded that the ad was not in breach of any of its regulations.

The watchdog accepted that the ad showed parents taking an interest in and supervising their child's internet use, and the voice-over made it clear that the parents were concerned about their child's welfare.

The second ad, for BT's business customer 24/7 IT and communications support, showed Dragons' Den presenter Peter Jones working late in a darkened office.

While away from his desk gremlins appeared from a lift and began causing havoc by chewing through cables and creating mayhem.

Eleven people complained that the ad was incorrectly scheduled as it could be seen by young children who could be frightened by the gremlins. Some even claimed that their children had suffered nightmares as a result of seeing the ad.

The Swarm advertising agency said on behalf of BT that, in the context of IT, the word 'gremlin' had long been a synonym for 'problem' and that the ad sought to harness this analogy.

Furthermore the ad had already been set so that it could not be shown in or around programmes made specifically for, or targeted at, children.

The ASA cleared BT saying that the gremlins' antics were likely to be seen as comedic rather than threatening and that the timing applied was sufficient.

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