Offensive

Although they only account for a small part of the ASA’s work, complaints about taste and decency are often the most high profile.

Upheld decisions can result in widespread adverse publicity for the company concerned and marketers can be required to have posters pre-vetted by CAP’s Copy Advice team for two years if they publish an offensive poster.

The rules state ads must not contain anything that is likely to cause serious or widespread offence, and specifies that special care must be taken to avoid causing offence on the grounds of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability and age.

When making a decision on whether an ad is likely to cause widespread offence, we take into account: the audience who are likely to see the ad; the context in which the ad appears; the product it’s promoting; and prevailing standards in society. To help judge those standards, from time-to-time, we commission major consumer research to find out what concerns people and where they think the line should be drawn.

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Latest rulings

Jaded London Ltd
- Upheld
- Social media (own site)
- 11 December 2024
An Instagram post was socially irresponsible and caused serious offense by featuring a harmful stereotype by objectifying and sexualising women.
get_0ut_0f_debt Ltd
- Upheld
- Social media (own site)
- 11 December 2024
A video on the get_0ut_0f_debt TikTok account was irresponsible and caused serious offense and unjustified distress.
Fern Brady
- Upheld
- Website (paid ad)
- 20 November 2024
A paid-for ad for the comedian Fern Brady, seen on the Sky News website, was likely to cause serious offence to some within the Christian faith.
247 Home Furnishings Ltd t/a 247Blinds
- Upheld
- Internet (website content)
- 04 September 2024
A website ad which made references to blindness were likely to cause serious or widespread offence on the grounds of disability.

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Offensive

Although they only account for a small part of the ASA’s work, complaints about taste and decency are often the most high profile.

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