The Advertising Standards Authority has said will not investigate the British Heart Foundation’s ‘Heart Disease is Heartless’ TV advert, despite it receiving over 200 complaints from the public.
A spokesman from the ASA told Civil Society News that the advertising regulator had received 201 complaints about the advert, with most of the complainants claiming the advert is “overly distressing” for both adults and children.
“I can confirm that we’ve received 201 complaints about the BHF ‘Heart disease is heartless’ ad,” the spokesman said. “The general nature of the complaints are that the ad is overly distressing for adults and/or children, with some objecting that it is inappropriately scheduled where children can see it.
“Many of the complainants have referred to a personal similar experience that occurred within their family.”
Despite the relatively high number of complaints being made, the ASA spokesman said that the advertising regulator would not be pursuing the investigation further.
“We’ve carefully assessed the complaints but our Council has decided that there aren’t grounds for further investigation. While we recognise that the ad could be upsetting to some viewers, and is likely to have a particular resonance with families who have been, or are currently being, affected by this issue, the ad's hard-hitting nature is appropriate in the context of promoting an important cause.
“It has also been given a scheduling restriction which means it can’t appear in or around programmes that are targeted at, or likely to have particular appeal, to children. On that basis, we do not consider that it is likely to cause serious or widespread offence or undue distress.”
Carolan Davidge, director of marketing and engagement, said: “This campaign marks the start of a long term strategy for BHF which aims to shift the way people think about heart disease. We want to show people that heart disease can rip people away from friends and family without warning.
“By making people contemplate the unexpected devastation that heart disease causes, we hope to inspire people to donate funds to continue BHF’s lifesaving research.”
A BHF spokeswoman said that while the organisation had seen “an increase in donation figures” it was too early to properly quantify the effect the campaign has had on fundraising.
