Ads used to have to be ‘honest, decent and true’. Now that’s not enough.
For instance there are incremental restrictions on advertising HFSS products to children. HFSS is not a class A drug. It’s all foods that are high in fats, salt and sugar – including confectionery and snacks.
So Cadbury and McDonald’s aren't allowed to ask children to sample their tasty wares. But those same children are now exposed to a tasty and salacious diet of scurrilous gossip emanating from the High Court.
It's apparently perfectly OK for kids to read in newspapers and hear in news bulletins about Princess Diana's lovers, phobias and unusual dress habits. The Diana brand is undergoing systematic character assassination under the pretext of an 'inquest' (don't we know how she died?) organised on the say-so of a rich retailer. Not being a trained lawyer it is hard to see the relevance to the inquest of tittle tattle from a bizarre collection of policemen, butlers, therapists, 'friends' and even – amazingly – divorce lawyers.
We live in a strange time when you can give unsubstantiated evidence in a court – which is immediately broadcast around the world to destroy a brand’s reputation, when you can’t suggest to a child that she buys a bag of crisps.
David Wethey
Blogging for:
Member since: 03 Jun 2008
Last login: 28 Jan 2009
Total Posts: 69
