Christmas should conjure up memories of family, happiness, amazing food and presents galore. But for a lot of families, there are massive expectations to deliver a most wonderful time of the year. As the cost of Christmas shopping gets higher and higher, a picture-perfect Christmas can be very expensive, and so some people turn to loans and credit to deliver those special memories.
From pay day loans and ‘buy now pay later’ to credit cards and pawning off possessions, marketers must be careful to ensure they aren’t promoting lending practices that encourage reckless and irresponsible borrowing. Read on for our expert advice to help avoid turning a Christmas dream into the nightmare before, during and after Christmas.
Christmas memories should last forever - paying back Christmas spending should not
Christmas can be a very expensive time of the year and irresponsible lending can lead some people into serious financial trouble. The ASA has previously upheld complaints against marketers whose ads encouraged taking out loans to assist with Christmas spending.
The decision to take out a loan to assist with Christmas spending shouldn’t be trivialised nor made to seem like an easy way to fund the celebrations.
Marketers should be especially careful to avoid promoting loans to those who are already struggling financially.
There’s snow reason for lending ads to appeal to Children
Think of all the things children love at Christmas. Money lending ads should not be a part of that. From images of Santa to reindeer and snowmen, marketers should avoid targeting or appealing to children directly.
The ASA have upheld complaints where marketers have been socially irresponsible with their money lending ads by associating the service with an event aimed at children.
Avoid the naughty list for taking things too far
All advertisers should take care when preparing their Christmas ads to ensure they don’t contain anything which could cause serious or widespread offence, particularly on the grounds of religion, but also of race, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age.
Ads featuring overly sexualised content with Christmas themes are also likely to be problematic too.
So, this is Copy Advice and what can they do?
You don’t need to imagine what our Copy Advice team can do to help you avoid the need for a Christmas miracle to save your non-broadcast ads. Advice, they provide advice…
Merry Christmas!
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