Advertising is an incredibly competitive industry. With brands doing all they can to ensure that consumers end up in their customer bases, sometimes adverts can be a little too bold, and controversy ensues.
Although television adverts are an ideal way of getting a brand's values across, they can sometimes backfire, with viewers either not agreeing with the overall message or feeling that the advertisement causes genuine offence. When it comes to the many reasons the British public complain about TV adverts, misleading information comes out on top, with more than 500 complaints and negative rulings.
Television adverts have been found to be the most complained about form of marketing by brands, with adverts in the press coming second and posters finishing in third. The following 10 adverts are a mixture of television adverts, YouTube adverts and posters, and are the 10 most complained about adverts of all time, according to Sortlist.
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1) Paddy Power's advert featuring Oscar Pistorius - 5,523 complaints
The most complained about advert of all time is Paddy Power's 2015 campaign, with the bookmakers offering punters their money back if Oscar Pistorius was cleared of the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, after the tragic incident of 2013. The advert featured Pistorius superimposed on a statue of an Oscar award alongside an offensive tagline relating to his disability and the incident.
Many of the complainants were not happy with the mockery of Oscar's disability and the jovial attitude towards Steenkamp's death. Pistorius was convicted later that year, and jailed. The Advertising Standards Authority demanded Paddy Power pulled the advert.
2) Tesco's Father Christmas COVID Passport - 5,000 complaints
In second place is supermarket giant Tesco, with its Christmas 2021 advert. The TV campaign featured Father Christmas on his way to deliver presents to children all over the world, and making use of a COVID vaccine passport when making his way through airport security.
Most complainants claimed that the advert was 'coercive' and encouraged medical discrimination based on vaccine status. The Advertising Standards Authority said that although they understood some people did not agree with the vaccination programme, the advert was not likely to be seen as irresponsible nor was it likely to cause serious or widespread offence.
3) Booking.com - 2,500 complaints
Back in 2015, Booking.com decided to use the word 'Booking' in place of a more explicit word which sounds quite similar. Over 2,500 members of the British public complained, with many claiming that the advert's repeated use of the similar-sounding word may encourage swearing in children, as the advert was aired during ad breaks for Harry Potter and Paddington films.
The Advertising Standards Authority cleared the advert of any wrongdoing. In a statement, the authority said that the advert was 'unlikely to condone or encourage swearing amongst children', according to The Guardian.
4) Ryanair's Jab and Go - 2,371 complaints
In December 2020, Ryanair aired a television advert which marketed a holiday price offer, with the slogan 'Jab and Go!" This aired, of course, the same month that vaccinations were first rolled out to the British public.
Over 2,300 members of the British public complained about the advert, which they believed 'trivialised' the restrictions at the time and the effects of the pandemic on society and individuals, whilst also complaining that the claims were misleading and socially irresponsible.
Sky News reported that Ryanair claimed 'important contextual factors' needed to be considered regarding the advert, including the then constantly changing travel restrictions and public awareness of the Government's vaccination scheme. The Advertising Standards Authority ordered that the advert was to be removed by Ryanair.
5) Paddy Power's Blind Wanderers F.C - 1,313 complaints
12 years ago, in 2010, Paddy Power ran an advert which showed a football match between two blind teams taking place. During the match, the football, which had a bell on it so players could hear where it was on the pitch, was kicked out of play, frightening a cat called Tiddles, which then caused him to run onto the pitch.
Tiddles, who was also carrying a bell on his collar, is then kicked off the pitch by a player and onto a neighbouring tree. Over 1,000 viewers found the advert offensive on the grounds of animal cruelty and ableism towards blind people.
The Advertising Standards Authority ruled that it was not offensive in itself to make an advert which referred to people with a disability, according to the BBC. Paddy Power defended themselves by saying the advert featured an action which was "so unlikely that it was absurd".
6) Go Compare: Compario's Car Crash - 336 complaints
Go Compare came under fire in 2019 following an 'insensitive' advert which showed their mascot, tenor Compario, getting into a car accident. In the advert, which attracted over 300 complaints, Compario is seen hitting a fallen tree at a high speed before flipping the car, then emerging to sing 'Go Compare'.
Road safety charity Brake! was amongst the complainants. The charity, according to ITV, said that the advert 'trivialised' the deaths of people on British roads.
In response to the criticism, Go Compare defended itself, saying: "We are highlighting how the unexpected can happen and how good quality insurance is essential. The insurance search engine company also told ITV that their advert, like all TV adverts, had been cleared for broadcast prior to airing.
7) Deliveroo's delivery lies - 300 complaints
In 2019, Deliveroo’s television advert depicted a woman receiving a delivery from a Deliveroo driver, from which she then distributed meals from several different restaurants out of this single bag. The complainants, who understood each restaurant would need a separate order, delivery fee, and delivery, challenged whether the ad was misleading as it suggested this was not the case.
According to the Manchester Evening News, the Advertising Standards Authority ruled the company was wrong to suggest deliveries could be made from multiple restaurants in a single package without incurring extra charges.
8) Photobox's Great Dane ride - 212 complaints
The RSPCA and 211 other viewers complained about photo printing company Photobox's advert in 2018, which showed a family enjoying a barbecue and taking a photograph of their son sitting on the back of a Great Dane. The advert was cleared by the Advertising Standards Authority after more than 200 people complained on the grounds of animal cruelty and health and safety, reported The Mirror.
The ASA said: "We acknowledged the vet's certificate provided by Photobox and (ad clearance agency) Clearcast, and were content that the two dogs used for the ad were not harmed during production. Because of that, we had no reason to believe the dogs used for the ad were mistreated during filming and concluded did not breach the Code.
"We acknowledged that an ex-kids scheduling restriction had been applied to the ad so that it would not be shown around children's programming. We considered that this further made it unlikely for children to emulate the child sitting on the dog or come to harm as a result."
9) Ryanair's misleading environmental claims - 167 complaints
A number of television, radio and online adverts were circulated by Ryanair back in September 2019, which saw the airline claim that prospective customers would be flying with 'Europe's Lowest Fares, Lowest Emissions Airline'.
The advert also questioned viewers and listeners: "Everybody knows that when you fly Ryanair you enjoy the lowest fares. But do you know you are travelling on the airline with Europe’s lowest emissions as well?"
The Advertising Standards Authority then made the decision to ban the advert, on the grounds that the claims were misleading. The authority said consumers would not find sufficient information to support the claims in the adverts that Ryanair has the lowest emissions out of all of Europe's airlines, according to the BBC.
Also, the ASA claimed that the data used as evidence by the airline was from eight years beforehand, and did not include many well-known airlines. In a statement at the time, Ryanair said that it would comply with the ruling, but repeated that its emissions per passenger kilometre are '25 per cent lower than the other major European airlines'.
10) Cadbury's Freddo the Frog Comic - 128 complaints
In 2019, Cadbury's was banned from advertising its Freddo chocolate bars in adverts which appeared next to a school, after the brand was accused of using the cute frog mascot, also named Freddo, to promote eating chocolate to children. These complaints also related to a comic and audio book called The Missing Hop which could be downloaded.
The Advertising Standards Authority ruled against Cadbury's, which is owned by Mondelez, promoting the adverts which could be seen near a school on a bus stop, the Freddo website and two YouTube videos which featured pictures of the frog mascot.
Meanwhile, Mondelez defended themselves by saying that the adverts were not necessarily aimed at children, as the books were meant to be read by parents and did not directly contain Cadbury or Freddo branding, The Guardian reports. The brand also said that the posters were mistakenly placed within 100 metres of the primary school, and argued that its website was not aimed towards children under the age of 16.
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