You Meaneys! Other ads that got complaints
PADDY POWER/BETFAIR: You may have seen a TV advert that included actor Colm Meaney walking a racecourse with various Irish figures walking behind him.
Colm pokes fun at the English and lists the reason the Irish are determined to beat the English at Cheltenham: ‘For geoblocking the iPlayer, and for dragging us into your messy divorce.
‘For leaving us in the worst parts of your airport and for chasing out the first royals that were ever any fun.’
One viewer didn’t see the funny side, but the ASAI ruled that the ad did not discriminate against English people.
GALWAY ADVERTISER AND JOE.IE: Media companies must be clear – it’s either a news article or an advert.
The Galway Advertiser and Joe.ie were both found to be running ads without making it clear that it was paid content. In Joe.ie’s case, it was an ad for a recruitment company that was made to look like information about plentiful jobs being available in Ireland.
The ASAI noted ‘the explanation that a genuine error had occurred’ and welcomed ‘the fact that all [Joe.ie] teams had been issued with guidelines to prevent similar from happening again’.
CARROLLS’ IRISH GIFTS: A business called Donegal Socks complained that socks sold on Carrolls’ online shop were advertised as ‘Made in Co. Donegal, Ireland’. The company also queried whether the socks was made in Ireland at all.
The complainants said that they were the sole manufacturer of Donegal Socks and claimed that the advertisement was therefore misleading and detrimental to their own business.
Carrolls apologised and said it had since tightened up its system.
FOUR STAR PIZZA: The Irish Heart Foundation objected to a pizza advertisement sent directly to teenagers’ phones that ‘created a sense of urgency by deliberately using products and language popular with young people to promote the consumption of pizza’.
The foundation considered the post to be irresponsible given the problem surrounding childhood obesity.
The complaint was not upheld and Four Star Pizza was found not to be in breach of the guidelines.