Limerick city complaint over crime posters thrown out

Complaints by the city of Limerick about an Irish Examiner advertising campaign for a recent crime series were thrown out by the Advertising Standards Authority as neither inaccurate nor misleading.

The complaints centred around a poster used in Limerick to advertise a county-by-county special investigation into crime figures in Clare, Cork, Tipperary, Waterford, Kerry and Cork. The billboard posters in Limerick featured a photograph of King John’s Castle in Limerick with images of yellow police tape stating “CRIME SCENE DO NOT CROSS”.

The poster garnered substantial reaction in Limerick with some commentators claiming it unfairly targeted the city. The Limerick Communications Office complained to the ASAI that the poster “implied that there were high levels of crime in Limerick which they said was not supported by data from the Central Statistics Office” and that the poster was perpetuating a stereotype of Limerick and its citizens which was inaccurate and misleading.

The communications office, which works to market and promote the city on behalf of the public and private sector, also claimed the posters created “fear in the minds of visitors due to its location at the main bus/train station”.

In response to the complaint, the Irish Examiner expressed surprise at the reaction to the posters in Limerick. It said that Limerick was not the sole focus of the crime series and that they had highlighted this in a number of local and national radio interviews. It also said Limerick was one of six counties that featured in regionalised posters that advertised the series individually in each county. In Co Tipperary, for instance, the same yellow police tape was used across a picture of the Rock of Cashel.

Irish Examiner management also said that because of the negative reaction to the posters in Limerick, the poster campaign was halted prematurely and existing posters were covered over.

In its decision, the ASAI ruled that the Irish Examiner advertisement did not suggest that crime in Limerick was particularly high and so it said it did not consider the advertising was misleading.

The ASAI said they understood the concerns expressed by the complainants from Limerick but did not consider the posters could cause grave or widespread offence.