I am gemused to see that our old chums from Nanny's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) have banned a television advert promoting safe cycling.
Eh?
For why?
The advert showed that most heinous of things, a rider without a helmet!
The advert, part of a campaign by Cycling Scotland, is trying to encourage drivers to give cyclists the same space and care as they would give a horse.
Yet ASA say that the advert showing a helmetless cyclist was "socially irresponsible".
Please note the phrase "socially irresponsible", that is not the same as "illegal"; for your see ladies and gentlemen Cycling Scotland have stated that wearing a helmet was not a legal requirement. In fact wearing a helmet is a personal choice for the individual (a fact reflected in the advert with footage of various cyclists both with, and without, helmets).
Evidently ASA, as is typical of Nanny, does not like the concept of personal choice and prefers blanket rules and regulations to force us all to do the same thing.
Incidentally, as per the BBC, Cycling Scotland also referred to its helmet policy, which discussed the possible undesired outcomes of wearing helmets, including limiting uptake of cycling and "influencing a driver's behaviour to be less careful when interacting on the road".
There's irony for you!
By the way, ASA took action after receiving complaints from a veritable avalanche of people.
How many?
Five!
Personally speaking I think the advert is rather good.
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Nanny sometimes only needs one minor complaint before banning an expensive and popular advert. The ASA are a joke quango.
ReplyDeleteSadly, too many quangocrats feel they have to act just to justify their role and salaries, even if their acts seem daft to the general population.
ReplyDeleteThis advert, which I think is clever, has had more free publicity than the makers could ever have dreamed off and people are talking about it.
It is sad that in a supposedly free and democratic country, Nanny and her little helpers insist on a group think and communist style uniform policy, in all too many areas of our lives.
Can I raise a complaint (as a cyclist who chooses NOT to wear a helmet) that by banning the advert I am being put at risk by drivers who have not been correctly "eduacted" by this advert?
ReplyDeleteI'll bet they were surprised that it is cyclists themselves who are angry about this, not just us ideological libertarians. They've completely misjudged this ad and the evidence base behind helmet laws such in Australia and New Zealand. They need to look up the term "risk compensation".
ReplyDeleteNanny Knows Worst
ReplyDeletejust how legally enforceable are these AD bans
ReplyDelete