ASA bans Government Global Warming Advertisement

Two adverts commissioned by the Government making exaggerated claims about global warming have been banned by the Advertising Standards Agency.

The adverts, based on the nursery rhymes Jack and Jill and Rub-A-Dub-Dub said that climate change would definitely cause flooding and drought.

The ASA said that this went beyond mainstream scientific consensus, and overstated the risks.

They also noted that the predictions of the impact of global warming made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change involved uncertainties which the adverts failed to reflect.

My dictionary defines 'propaganda' as 'Organised scheme for propagation of a doctrine or practice', which sums it up quite well.

The posters juxtaposed extracts from the nursery rhymes with warnings about global warming.

One of the modified rhymes began:

"Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water.
There was none as extreme weather due to climate change had caused a drought."

There were 939 complaints from members of the public. The ASA said that more moderate language should have been used.

...... I'm surprised there weren't also complaints on artistic grounds - Ed.

ND, habitat21

Back to top