Nine cases upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority

Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland upheld nine cases, including against Toyota and Virgin Media

The ad from Bank of Ireland featured a man and woman burning documents in the barrel as well as a hippo-shaped money jar.

Bank of Ireland has had an advertising standards complaint upheld against it after an ad it broadcast was seen to normalise the “illegal and environmentally damaging practice of backyard burning”.

In its latest bulletin, the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) upheld a complaint against the ad, which featured a man and woman burning documents in the barrel as well as the burning of the hippo-shaped money jar.

It was one of nine cases upheld by the ASAI, with a further two partially upheld.

One of the cases upheld was that of a Volkswagen sponsored article in the Irish Examiner newspaper which misleadingly suggested there were offers on “various Volkswagen models and advertised low-rate finance and service plans from €18.99 per month” when it should have been made clear this rate only applied to the service plan and not the car itself.

The ASAI noted the “speed and responsiveness” of Irish Examiner and Blackwater Motors dealership, which placed the ad, in correcting the ad once it was brought to their attention and determined that no further action was required.

A complaint was also upheld against an ad for Toyota’s Hybrid Health Check, which claimed it covered a car for one year or or 15,000kms under the Hybrid Battery Extended Care. 

Contradicted advertised claim

However, after a customer’s 2007 car’s battery died nine months after the service, Toyota claimed they would have to pay for a replacement because the car was too old. The ASAI found this contradicted the advertised claim. 

Two complaints against self-tanning company TanOrganic ads were upheld. The first was in relation to the claims made about the company’s bamboo packaging, when the packaging actually depicted was glass covered in varnished wood.

While another complaint noted an ad where a product was shown to be vegan certified also contained honey, which is not vegan.

A number of issues were raised over a competition run by the Holyrood Hotel in Donegal. The complaints said there was no information as to when the draw would take place and multiple competitions seemed to be run weekly but only one winner was announced.

A complaint upheld against Virgin Media over its next-day delivery claims after a person did not receive their broadband until over a week after the order was placed.

A number of companies such as the Wine Opener, the Dublin Meat Company, and Hello Fresh all had complaints upheld against them as a result of influencers not labelling content correctly as ads.