Cycling Scotland Ad banned by the ASA for being "socially irresponsible"

custardy

rdr wrote: »

The ASA has withdrawn the ruling:



:T

Johno100 wrote:

Seems like a sensible decision.

indeed John,indeed.

cookie365

I think we're missing the point.

Why does the ASA think that its role is to decide whether a person featured in an advert is performing some task 'safely' (however you define that) or not, and why do they think that they have a right to censor adverts on that basis?

Mids_Costcutter

I read that the original ASA ruling was a response to five complaints they received about the Cycling Scotland advert. Hopefully the independent review will result in them seeing sense and withdrawing the ban.

vqmismatch

Whilst I have to admit the ASA ruling did seem bonkers to me, I am rather glad they came to the conclusion they did. By stimulating debate around the add they should bring it to far more peoples attention. I would never have seen it were it not for the press coverage of it being banned.

Could this have been a master stroke by a cyclist in the ASA?

PintAndAPie

cookie365 wrote: »

I think we're missing the point.

Why does the ASA think that its role is to decide whether a person featured in an advert is performing some task 'safely' (however you define that) or not, and why do they think that they have a right to censor adverts on that basis?

Because that's part of their job and because they can. Would you object to an advert showing a child smoking?

Johno100

PintAndAPie wrote: »

Because that's part of their job and because they can. Would you object to an advert showing a child smoking?

Or an adult smoking in a car with a child passenger, not illegal yet, but socially irresponsible?

Mids_Costcutter

Johno100 wrote: »

Or an adult smoking in a car with a child passenger, not illegal yet, but socially irresponsible?

Yes, socially irresponsible as directly causing harm to the child and acting as a poor role model.

Not wearing a cycle helmet for a relatively safe activity which benefits society in general, socially irresponsible? Absolutely not! In their actions the ASA are portraying cycling as a more dangerous activity than it actually is. Now that's socially irresponsible.

thelawnet

I think cycle helmets are socially irresponsible, personally. There is no proof they improve cycle safety, but otoh they definitely make cycling appear more dangerous. The fact is a cycle helmet is no more useful than a walking or driving helmet.

I would sooner go to jail than wear one.

redux

I'm looking forward to a similar ad about approaching an area where there is a school.

Drivers should be taking into account that not every potential hazard is behaving as ideally as might be hoped

Kids can run out in the road without looking, and both inexperienced and experienced cyclists might waver in the line they are taking, for reasons which aren't necessarily immediately clear to the car driver but should anyway be anticipated and allowed for anyway

These things will still happen despite the ASA's attempted political correctness

custardy

redux wrote: »

I'm looking forward to a similar ad about approaching an area where there is a school.

Drivers should be taking into account that not every potential hazard is behaving as ideally as might be hoped

Kids can run out in the road without looking, and both inexperienced and experienced cyclists might waver in the line they are taking, for reasons which aren't necessarily immediately clear to the car driver but should anyway be anticipated and allowed for anyway

These things will still happen despite the ASA's attempted political correctness

Sadly. The worst driving around schools seems to be from the parents!

eg
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-25913984