Watchdog upholds complaint over radio match ad

A COMPLAINT about a misleading radio advertisement for an Ireland versus England legends football match has been upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI).

The complaint was one of 11 upheld in the latest batch of the authority’s judgments.

Nine others were not.

The ad for the match, which took place at Tolka Park, Dublin, last August and was organised by Grow Sports, suggested members of Jack Charlton’s famous Ireland team of the 1990s would play in one of “the biggest soccer showdowns in Ireland this summer”.

“Jack’s boys are back. At last the game that should have happened. Ireland take on England as the legends go head to head at Tolka Park,” it said.

However, the complainant, who purchased two VIP tickets, said it was misleading as many of the ex-international players mentioned in the ad did not take part.

Grow Sports said it regretted that an unusually high number of players had failed to attend the match in question, but that it could not control such factors.

The organiser said it had offered to compensate the complainant by way of VIP tickets for the next match and it would provide the ASAI records of the request to each player, their confirmation and the reasons why they were unable to attend.

The authority said the records were not received and the complainant indicated ordinary rather than VIP tickets were offered. The complaint was upheld.

In another case, a complaint about a TV ad for a Foróige Youth Citizenship programme, run in conjunction with Permanent TSB, was not upheld.

The complainant said the ad, which featured young people from Jobstown, Dublin, painting a “community spirit mural”, was inappropriate as it promoted graffiti as an activity.

She said it almost encouraged children to graffiti their local areas, expressed surprise that an advertiser could be allowed to promote it and said it showed a disregard for the environment.

The advertiser said the mural was part of a wider education programme to promote active involvement resulting in the empowerment of young people and the enrichment of their community. The youth group had requested and received permission from South Dublin County Council to create the mural.

The ASAI noted the children in the ad were shown wearing protective clothing and therefore they did not consider the scenario similar to that of graffiti vandalism.

A complaint about a mailed Eircom ad for a €47 phone and 7MB broadband package was also upheld.

The complainant said the actual cost for the 7MB product was €66.99 per month. Eircom responded stating that the offer referred to speeds “up to 7MB” and a “fixed price from €47”.

The advertising authority said the advertisement was likely to mislead consumers and contravened its code.

Other complaints were upheld against retailer Argos, windscreen repair company Autoglass and fast-food giant McDonalds.

The ASAI did not uphold complaints about advertisements by the National Lottery, drinks company Diageo, travel company Tour America and insurer Zurich Life.