The Advertising Standards Agency has ruled that a St John Ambulance advert which claimed that first aid could prevent up to 140,000 deaths every year cannot appear again in its current form.
The advert showed a man being treated for cancer and recovering, who then goes on to choke at a barbeque. The ASA upheld claims made by accuracy checkers Full Fact that the on-screen text was misleading. This went against its original ruling on the advert which was made in July this year.
Steve Conway, director of brand marketing, communication and fundraising at St John Ambulance, said: “We’re extremely disappointed with the ASA’s decision to reverse their original ruling and our legal advisers are exploring avenues.
“The advert was approved by [TV advertisement adviser] Clearcast, who we worked with from the outset to ensure we were transparent and that it complied with the BCAP code.”
The ASA have stated that the on-screen text cannot be substantiated. It read: “First aid could help prevent up to 140,000 deaths every year. The same number of people that die from cancer.”
St John Ambulance obtained the cancer mortality figure from published data compiled by Cancer Research UK and the figure on deaths attributed to first aid from data provided by the Office of National Statistics. It reviewed data for conditions which first aid may have either contributed to a person’s chance of survival or possibly prevented their death.
Full Fact argued that the 140,000 figure was misleading as data compiled by St John Ambulance on how patients could have benefited from first aid did not take into account the effectiveness of first aid on survival rates.
The ASA said: “Because that had not been substantiated we concluded that the claim was misleading.”
Conway added: “Despite the ASA ruling that we can’t use the claim in advertising, we still stand by our analysis that first aid could help prevent up to 140,000 deaths every year.
“We believe this figure illustrates as accurately as is possible, within current medical and ethical limitations, the impact that first aid can have between life and death. Our work is vital if we’re to reduce the number of lives being needlessly lost each year.”
Will Moy, director of Full Fact, said: "St John Ambulance should respect the ASA's ruling and drop the claim. The regulator says this claim is misleading and unsubstantiated: how can St John Ambulance continue to use it and still refuse to show the public how they came up with the number?"
The advert, which the charity has not aired for over a year and had no plans to air again, was in the top ten most complained about adverts of 2012.
The ASA ruling only covers TV broadcast, so the advert can still be shown online.
