The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld complaints against a TV advert from life insurance broker Polly which was scheduled during young children’s programming.
The regulator underlined the importance of appropriate scheduling following its investigation and told broadcasters to be careful not to distress children.
The complaints were against an ad placed by Polly, which aims its business at mothers, that was broadcast on Cartoon Network during episodes of The Amazing World of Gumball and ThunderCats Roar! at 8am and 7pm.
The pair of complaints argued the discussion of a parent dying would distress children and was inappropriate to be shown during children’s programming.
Commenting on the case, an ASA spokesperson told Health & Protection that it was important adverts were scheduled and targeted appropriately.
“Within broadcast, adverts that might be suitable for older children should not be scheduled around programming for younger children to avoid distress,” the regulator said.
“Broadcasters must exercise reasonable judgement on scheduling ads, and use internal systems to avoid unsuitable juxtapositions between ads and programmes.”
The ad depicted a mother playing with her two young children.
A voice-over stated: “The doctor brought me in and he said ‘You have got blood clots in your lungs, if you’d have left it a day or two longer, you wouldn’t be here anymore’. You’ve always got in the back of your mind when you’ve been through something like that, or you were so close to being taken away from your babies, what if this happens again? What can I put in place to protect my kids?
“And that is everything that being a parent is about is protecting your children, and that shouldn’t stop when you die. So mothers if you are watching this and you don’t have life insurance, go to polly.co.uk, get a free quote, and get it sorted now.”
While the advert was cleared by Clearcast without a scheduling restriction, two complainants, who believed the ad’s discussion of a parent dying would distress children and was inappropriate to be shown during children’s programming, challenged whether the ad was inappropriately scheduled.
Broker’s response
In response Candid Insurance Services Ltd which trades as Polly, told the ASA the ad did not discuss a parent dying, that the person in the ad provided a real-life example of being unwell and that everybody was unwell at times, and children were aware of that. It also claimed the ad did not use or stoke fear.
Polly added that younger children were highly unlikely to understand the medical statement and that the person did not die nor use the term “die” or “death” when describing the event, that older children were aware of what doctors are and that people get sick and that life insurance protected families financially and that the ad overwhelmingly discussed protecting children.
Broadcaster Turner Entertainment Networks International, which operates Cartoon Network, said advice from Clearcast, the non-governmental organisation which pre-approves British television advertising, was followed and that it did not see a reason that would prevent the ad from being scheduled at the respective times on Cartoon Network.
Turner added it believed the ad conveyed a positive message about life insurance, was not exaggerated and did not exploit the fears of other mothers. And it believed it was a matter of fact statement about an illness that influenced her decision to consider life insurance and that the decision to take up the offer was presented as a rational and sensible option to provide for the family.
Clearcast initially did not believe the ad should be prevented from being shown in or around programmes aimed at young children, adding the advert featured a separate voice over which outlined the mother’s previous concerns about her health condition and the fact that she believed that being a parent was about protecting your children and that that should not stop when you die.
However, Clearcast added it had since asked broadcasters to consider scheduling it away from programmes for under 10-year-olds and to alert them that the advert contained references to death or someone dying.
ASA action
However, the ASA upheld the complaint, adding that it considered the ad had a solemn tone and a realistic setting, with references to an incident of a parent experiencing a life-threatening health crisis and to the possibility of a parent dying.
It noted the ad used language considered simple enough that the message would be understood by young children and that could be distressing to young children as it was being scheduled at times they would be watching and therefore needed to be sensitively scheduled.
Consequently, Cartoon Network was told to ensure that ads which were suitable for older children but could distress younger children were sensitively scheduled in future.
