Numpties Complaining to ASA
Discussion
a. a poster that featured a photograph of an Aston Martin car with the number-plate "JB 007"; it had been clamped and a sticker on the windscreen read "UNTAXED VEHICLE"; and
b. a poster that featured Chitty Chitty Bang Bang having been clamped in a field.
Text at the bottom of both posters stated "No exceptions. No excuses. No escape. PAY YOUR ROAD TAX."
The complainants, who understood that the cars shown were over 25 years old and therefore exempt from road tax, objected that the posters misleadingly implied that cars of that age needed to be taxed.
Codes Section: 7.1 (Ed 10)
Adjudication:
Complaints not upheld
The advertisers explained that tax avoidance cost the government £188m in lost revenue and was an offence. They said they had used fictional characters, such as Batman and James Bond, to convey that everyone who had a vehicle on a public highway had to display a valid road tax disc, regardless of who they were. The advertisers said they had not intended to imply that owners of cars over 25 years old needed to buy their road tax but they had intended to imply that those owners did need to apply for and display a valid disc. Because the cars and their owners were obviously fictional, the Authority considered that readers were unlikely to take the advertisements literally.
b. a poster that featured Chitty Chitty Bang Bang having been clamped in a field.
Text at the bottom of both posters stated "No exceptions. No excuses. No escape. PAY YOUR ROAD TAX."
The complainants, who understood that the cars shown were over 25 years old and therefore exempt from road tax, objected that the posters misleadingly implied that cars of that age needed to be taxed.
Codes Section: 7.1 (Ed 10)
Adjudication:
Complaints not upheld
The advertisers explained that tax avoidance cost the government £188m in lost revenue and was an offence. They said they had used fictional characters, such as Batman and James Bond, to convey that everyone who had a vehicle on a public highway had to display a valid road tax disc, regardless of who they were. The advertisers said they had not intended to imply that owners of cars over 25 years old needed to buy their road tax but they had intended to imply that those owners did need to apply for and display a valid disc. Because the cars and their owners were obviously fictional, the Authority considered that readers were unlikely to take the advertisements literally.
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