RSPCA has been cleared by the advertising watchdog, which investigated complaints about the animal charity’s adverts launched around its rebrand last year.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) assessed four complaints about a YouTube video, TV advert and poster for the RSPCA after concerns were raised that they misleadingly represented the welfare standards afforded to animals farmed under the charity’s separate meat certification scheme.
Adfree Cities, which campaigns against corporate outdoor advertising, wrote to the ASA in May last year that RSPCA’s For Every Kind adverts were “misleading” as they would lead most people to assume the charity is “championing the lives of all animals, including farm animals”.
It argued that the adverts were in breach of the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) Code and guidance relating to misleading advertising.
Today, ASA announced that it has not upheld the complaints it received against RSPCA and concluded that the ads were unlikely to mislead about the care standards afforded to animals at RSPCA Assured farms.
Its ruling states: “We had not seen evidence that non-compliance with RSPCA Assured standards was a widespread issue in the RSPCA Assured scheme.
“We also acknowledged that in any assurance scheme some members would encounter compliance issues.
“We noted that furthermore, remedial policies and actions were in place and were activated for farms that encountered compliance issues.”
Plan to challenge ruling
Nicola Wilks, co-director at Adfree Cities, said her organisation plans to challenge the ruling.
“The RSPCA is a loved and trusted charity working hard to protect animals, and it’s all the more important that its advertising is honest,” she said.
“Currently, the RSPCA is approving standards for animals across thousands of farms that most people would think are cruel, meaning this advert’s scenes of free, hand-fed and rescued farm animals are extremely misleading.
“Advertising for the products of intensive farming is everywhere, misleading us about the unhealthy and cramped conditions experienced by animals in factory farms.
“It’s disappointing to see the RSPCA’s advertising contributing to this culture of misinformation. We will appeal this decision; but we also need broad restrictions on advertising that conceals the way animals are treated in the intensive farming industry.”
Meanwhile, an RSPCA spokesperson said: “We welcome the ASA ruling that found there was no foundation for this complaint.
“Our For Every Kind campaign is a bold rallying cry for people to rethink their relationships with animals and treat them with the kindness and respect they deserve.
“This ruling means that we can continue to spread this crucial message in order to inspire everyone to create a better world for every animal.
“We have a 200-year history of making real and tangible change for farmed animals through changing laws and continually driving up standards to improve their welfare.
“The RSPCA’s pioneering standards mean we were the first to require CCTV to monitor welfare in slaughterhouses before it became mandatory, to ban the use of battery cages for hens 18 years before it became law, to insist on pasture for dairy cattle, to provide more space for salmon, to end the use of fast-growing meat chickens, and to ban the use of farrowing crates for mother pigs.
“There’s much more to be done and we’re determined to continue to work with the public, our partners, industry and governments to improve the lives of farm animals now and in the future.”
Related articles
