Advertising Standards Bureau - Review of Operations 2013 | Page 36

Violence (Section 2.3, AANA
Code of Ethics)
Violence is unacceptable in advertising unless it is
justifiable in the context of the product or service
advertised. The advertising of very few products
or services realistically justifies the depiction
of violence. In 2013 the Board considered
advertisements that portrayed bullying, domestic
violence, weaponry, cruelty to animals, graphic
depictions, and imagery that may cause alarm or
distress under Section 2.3 of the Code.
Complaints about violence almost tripled from
5.9 per cent in 2012 to 16.1 per cent in 2013,
although this percentage is skewed by a higher
number of complaints about two advertisements.

Community awareness
Each year the Board receives numerous
complaints for advertisements providing
community awareness for a public health or
safety message. The Board has consistently
stated that a higher level of graphic imagery is
recognised as being justifiable in public education
campaigns because of the important health
and safety messages that they are intended to
convey. Further, compelling detail and shock
may be necessary to be effective in these types
of advertisements.
Anti-smoking campaigns dismissed in 2013
include a man struggling to breathe in an image
akin to a coffin (Australian National Preventive
Health Agency – 0151/13 & 0163/13), an image
of pried open eyes (Australian National Preventive
Health Agency – 0056/13) and a picture of a
sick child (Cancer Institute of NSW – 0068/13).
In these cases, the Board empathised with
co