The Advertising Standards agency has received five complaints about a Motor Neurone Disease Association poster which has been described as “threatening”.

The poster features viral craze the Ice Bucket Challenge, which raised money for MND last year. Critics say the poster suggests a direct link between not taking part in last year’s viral campaign and getting the illness.

The poster, which is one of three that were put up on the London underground and national rail network as part of a wider campaign (the rest can be viewed below), featured MND sufferer Michael Smith, alongside a quote saying “Last summer, I was the only person I knew who didn’t do the ice bucket challenge. Five months later I was diagnosed with motor neurone disease”.

Critics on social media mocked the poster, suggesting that it implied a direct link between not doing the challenge and being diagnosed with motor neurone disease. Some said that the poster implied there was “karma” involved in Michael’s diagnosis.

The ASA told Civil Society News that it has received five complaints about the poster. A spokesman said: “The complaints have only just come in so we’re currently assessing them and no decision has been made on whether there are grounds to investigate.

“The general nature of the complaints are that the ad is threatening in tone and appears to suggest that non-participation in the ice bucket challenge was the reason why the individual in the ad fell ill.”

'A poignant story'

Chris James, director of external affairs at MND Association, said the charity apologised for the way that it was taken and that it was never the charity’s intention to offend anyone.

He told Civil Society News: “We are very upset that people have been upset by the poster and certainly we would apologise to anyone who feels that way. It certainly wasn’t our intention to imply that by not doing the ice bucket challenge, Michael had got motor neurone disease and that there was karma involved in that. None of us anticipated the reaction we’ve had to the poster. We thought it was a very poignant story that Michael had told.”

“None of us at the association and the agency that we have been working with on the campaign had read any kind of threatening tone into the quote.”

James said that the criticisms that the poster received will be fed back into the charity’s review process, and that the reactions to the other posters have primarily been positive. He added that one of the aims of the posters had been to thank the public for their “tremendous support” in taking part in the ice bucket challenge.

The poster is part of the MND Association's Last Summer campaign to mark Motor Neurone Disease Awareness Month. It has released three posters and a video which showed how the ice bucket challenge impacted those with motor neurone disease.

The #icebucketchallenge was the viral social media campaign which came to a head last summer that saw people pour a bucket of ice water over their heads, donate to charity and nominate three friends.

The craze started in America before being organically taking up by fundraisers in the UK, who raised £7m for the MND Association.

The comments in the poster come directly from Michael, whose story is explained in more detail on the charity’s website. Michael reveals that when the craze took off last summer he was busy getting married and therefore didn’t pay as much attention to the craze as his friends did.

'Surprised by reaction'

In a joint statement, Michael and his wife Tracy commented on their surprise over the reaction that the poster has seen.

They said: "We are very proud to be part of the Last Summer campaign to raise awareness of MND and have been involved throughout the process. We are shocked that anyone can think that an advert, let alone one that supports and helps people with MND, would suggest you deserve a terminal illness for not doing a viral fad and it says more about them.

"We have been surprised by the reaction of a vocal few on social media to the poster, many of whom have retweeted without seeing the full text or reading Michael's full story. The comment on Michael's poster was true and from the lips of a real MND fighter. All debates however do raise awareness."

Comedian Jason Manford has criticised the poster on his Facebook page, calling it “guilt-inducing” and “disgusting”. He went on to praise the other posters in the series released by the charity.