[Dave]

A record number of adverts were complained about in 2006, the Advertising Standards Authority has said. So here are the Top 5

Rolling in at No. 5

5. CARPHONE WAREHOUSE - 145 COMPLAINTS



The familiar Carphone Warehouse adverts riled customers and competitors, particularly claims that its service would be "free forever". The ASA agreed that the advert was misleading and that "the availability of the service was insufficiently explained".

Complaints upheld



4. MOTOROLA - 160 COMPLAINTS



This is more of the same theme - and another appearance for D&G whose joint advert with Motorola, complainants said, "condoned knife-related violence" and "glamorised sexual violence". Motorola's defence was that it was highly stylised and clearly a pun on the tagline 'The cutting edge of technology', and that it did not glamorise violence. In this case the ASA agreed, saying that most newspaper readers would appreciate the ad's intention.

Complaints not upheld


3. DOLCE & GABBANA - 166 COMPLAINTS



D&G criticised over knife adverts

If it was depravity that offended in the 1970s, one new concern from 2006 was the glamorisation of knives. This D&G advert, which again appeared in the press rather than on television, appeared opposite a news article about a knife crime.

D&G protested at the complaints, saying that the ads were "highly stylised" and inspired by well-known Napoleonic paintings. But the ASA held them to be "socially irresponsible and offensive".

Complaints upheld


2. HM REVENUE AND CUSTOMS - 271 COMPLAINTS



This was also a press advert, and depicted what seemed to be a self-employed plumber evading tax by hiding under the kitchen sink. This offended many self-employed people - and plumbers in particular - who said the advert made them look like tax evaders.

A spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses said the advert "tars all of the UK's 2.72 million self-employed people with the same brush". HM Revenue and Customs apologised and amended the advert after the complaints, but the ASA concluded that most people would not actually have drawn the unfair conclusion about the self-employed.

Complaints not upheld


& the number 1 position goes to


1. GAY POLICE ASSOCIATION - 553 COMPLAINTS



This advert was the most complained about in 2006. It was a national press ad which pictured a Bible and a claim from the Gay Police Association of a link between homophobic attacks and religious motivation. Several Christian groups complained about the advert, saying it was offensive to them and discriminatory in tone.

The ASA upheld the complaints, saying that it was indeed offensive, was misleading in its suggestion that all incidents involved physical injury and in statistical claims which were never proved to the ASA.

The most complained about advert in 2005 was by KFC and featured people in a call centre singing with their mouths full. It received more than three times as many complaints.

Complaints upheld
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[Markulous]

Originally Posted by Dave

The familiar Carphone Warehouse adverts riled customers and competitors, particularly claims that its service would be "free forever". The ASA agreed that the advert was misleading and that "the availability of the service was insufficiently explained".

Must admit that when I was in CW a couple of weeks ago (buying a mobile phone cover), the assistant made the mistake of asking:
"Do you have broadband?"
"Yes, thanks"
"Interested in free access?"
"No, thanks"
"You know we can give you free broadband?"
Loudly: "Oh, you mean the service that everyone's complaining about as they can't get connected?"
"Oh, that was all fixed months ago"
Even louder as someone in the next county might have missed me previously: "So why are the forums continuing to be full of people complaining of no access and absolutely no service"
Wisely, assistant didn't continue his sales pitch
Exit shop, probably never to return!