ASA clears Action for Children 'My Story' advert

Fundraising | Celina Ribeiro | 30 Jun 2009

Action for Children’s controversial TV advertisement featuring an autistic child has been cleared by the Advertising Standards Authority.

The advert, titled ‘My story. Dan’, featured an animation of a young child with autism in which the child’s autism was depicted as a monster-like creature. ASA received 61 individual complaints about the advert and one complaint from the autism support and campaigning network Autreach.

In its adjudication, the advertising regulator dismissed complaints that the advertisement depicted autism in a negative light – an issue raised by all those complaining to the ASA about the advert.

It also found that complaints that the advertisement was misleading about the nature of autism and condoned bullying were without merit.

Action for Children had stood by the ‘Dan’ advertisements, part of a series of three story-based adverts launched to boost brand awareness after the charity changed its name from NCH. It stressed that the story was told in ‘Dan’s’ own words.

Clearcast had approved the advert in pre-production, claiming the advert was both personal and uplifting.

Polly Neate, executive director of Action for Children, said the charity is "pleased" that the complaints were not upheld.

“The three adverts that featured in Action for Children’s advertising campaign highlighted important issues that affect the vulnerable children and young people we support every day. We looked to do this in a sensitive way, using strong creatives to illustrate the experiences of three young people who use our services, working closely with them to tell their own stories in their own words," she said.

“We have been keen to understand the views and feelings of those who found the advert offensive, as we had absolutely no intention of causing offence."

The advert ran until February this year, prompting reaction from the National Autistic Society and the formation of a Facebook group against the advert.

To view the 'My story. Dan' advert, click here.

Directory: Action for Children
Who's Who: Celina Ribeiro

Comments

[Cancel] | Reply to:

Name *

Email *

Organisation

Job Title

Comments *

Verification *

* Please read our Community Standards

Close »

Community Standards

The civilsociety.co.uk community and comments board is intended as a platform for informed and civilised debate.

We hope to encourage a broad range of views, however, there are standards that we expect commentators to uphold. We reserve the right to delete or amend any comments that do not adhere to these standards.

We welcome:

Robust but respectful debate
Strongly held opinions
Intelligent relevant discussion
The sharing of relevant experiences
New participants

We will not publish:

Rude, threatening, offensive, obscene or abusive language, or links to such material
Links to commercial organisations or spam postings. The comments board is not an advertising platform
The posting of contact details for yourself or others
Comments intended for malicious purpose or mindless abuse
Comments purporting to be from another person or organisation under false pretences
Gratuitous criticism, commentary or self-promotion
Any material which breaches copyright or privacy laws, or could be considered libellous
The use of the comments board for the pursuit or extension of personal disputes

Be aware:

Views expressed on the comments board are left at users’ discretion and are in no way views held or supported by Civil Society Media
Comments left by others may not be accurate, do not rely on them as fact
You may be misunderstood - sarcasm and humour can easily be taken out of context, try to be clear

Please:

Enjoy the opportunity to express your opinion and respect the right of others to express theirs
Confine your remarks to issues rather than personalities

Together we can keep our community a polite, respectful and intelligent platform for discussion.