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WaterAid DRTV ad cleared by ASA

Fundraising | Gemma Ware | 14 May 2008

A DRTV campaign by WaterAid that sparked complaints after appearing on two children’s channels has been cleared by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

Six viewers whose children had seen the TV ad, which was broadcast on the Cartoon Network and Jetix, complained that their children had been distressed by it. WaterAid also received one complaint directly.

The advert, which prompted viewers to donate £2 a month, carried images showing distressed children and a voice-over explaining the dangers of dirty water. Text on the screen read: “Give water Give life Give £2 a month…In the next 3 minutes, 10 children will die from dirty water…A child dies every 17 seconds.”

In their response to the ASA, WaterAid said due to an error by their media buying agency, Clearcast, the advert was aired more than they had intended on the two children’s channels. They said that without the error the advert would have had a much lighter presence on the channels.

Clearcast told the ASA it had not applied a timing restriction to the scheduling as it could see nothing in the visuals that could cause a problem and thought the advert was uplifting.

Unlikely to cause fear or distress

The ASA accepted that while some children may have found the subject matter distressing, it said “most children were likely to be in the company of an adult who could explain it to them”.

The regulator said that the advert did not use shocking claims or images “merely to attract attention”, and judged that the advert was unlikely to cause undue fear or distress to children.

Although the ASA said that a scheduling restriction to direct the advert away from children was not necessary, WaterAid has asked for the Cartoon Network and Jetix to be removed from its media schedules for the next three months.

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