Two Kids Company posters have been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) which has branded the adverts 'racist'.
The ASA has upheld three complaints that the two posters depicting troubled black teenagers were racist, offensive and misrepresented the causes of youth violence.
One advertisement featured four black teenage males with the caption ‘You are right. Kids who can kill are wrong in the head’ and went on to claim that children who are emotionally abused can develop abnormal brains, which are linked to violent behaviour. The second poster featured three black teens harassing a white man.
The ASA also voiced its own concern over the advertisements, questioning the science behind the first poster's link between brain size, childhood neglect and adolescent violence.
All complaints were upheld in the ASA review, despite Kids Company’s defence that the two advertisements were part of a series of five posters which also featured Caucasian youth, and that the models in posters were drawn from young visitors to its own centres and reflected the demographics of their beneficiaries. After a review of the science, the ASA rejected the research which formed the basis for the charity’s claim that violence could be connected to brain size.
In its ruling, the regulator said that the posters were likely to reinforce negative stereotypes of Afro-Carribbean youths and that Kids Company can not use the adverts in their current form again.
Neera Dhingra, spokeswoman for Kids Company, said that the advertisements had been approved by the young people who appeared in them prior to their being published and the campaign had led to 500 people signing up as volunteers.
"Kids Company’s intention was to create a perception changing campaign that challenged prejudice towards vulnerable young people," she said.
"Kids Company will not be running the campaign again and will be taking into account the three complaints when considering the future public presentation of the complex issues that were highlighted within it."
