Funeral Service Times August 2017 November 2018 | Page 45

DEATH FOR SALE: ADVERTISING FUNERAL SERVICES 45
Death for sale:
advertising funeral
services
Advertising funeral services can be hard, especially when trying to use an advert as a platform for
opening up more conversation around death, just ask funeral comparison site Beyond
S
o, these adverts are a tad edgier,
and that's deliberate,” said funeral
comparison site Beyond in defence
of a series of tube adverts which
provoked a media storm. The adverts in
question were disguised as adverts for other
services and products such as holidays,
medication, weddings and loans. TfL
promptly banned Beyond’s entire campaign
from its trains, buses and stations claiming
they were “likely to cause serious and
widespread offence” and told the company
to "come up with a more acceptable
campaign". In banning the ads TfL consulted
the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP)
who in turn told the travel company the ads
would likely offend. Beyond hit back at the
transport provider saying “TfL are happy to
show adverts for loan sharks with cripplingly
exploitative APRs, encouraging you to get
yourself into debt, but our campaign, which
could save you a fortune, is somehow
deemed more offensive”. Beyond accused
TfL of “killing the conversation” surrounding
“talking about or engaging with death”. The
funeral comparison website claimed that its
adverts were aimed at engaging people with
the subject and provoking conversation.
Beyond’s co-founder Ian Strang said he was
“hugely disappointed” with TfL’s response,
adding that a lack of communication meant
that companies were able to "take advantage
of [the bereaved] when we're in a weakened
state".
The Beyond adverts are not the first
time that funeral professionals have found
themselves in hot water over advertising. In
www.funeralservicetimes.co.uk
April last year funeral plan providers Golden
Charter were told off by the Advertising
Standards Authority (ASA) for boasting about
their offering, claiming in their advertising
copy: “More people choose us for funeral
plans over the Co-op” before going on to
proclaim: “We are bigger than the Co-op”.
Not content with claiming they were bigger
than one of the profession’s biggest names,
Golden Charter proudly claimed they were
the “UK's largest funeral plan provider”.
Golden Charter’s bragging was soon brought
to a halt however, despite the ASA agreeing
with the funeral service provider that its
claims could be substantiated, it said that it
did not provide “sufficient information” to
verify the comparative claims in its adverts.
The ASA told the funeral plan provider that
the ads “must not appear again in the form
complained about”, telling Golden Charter to
ensure they provided “sufficient information
to enable consumers to verify comparative
claims”. Golden Charter defended
themselves by saying that the hyperlinked
text in the Google advert took consumers
to a landing page on their website where
they could request an information pack,
and said the information was based on
analysis of statistics released by the Funeral
Planning Authority (FPA). The funeral service
provider believed that the FPA statistics
were sufficient to appropriately signpost the
information, to enable consumers to access
the information themselves if they chose.
Golden Charter said that the comparison in
the TV ad was simple and justifiable and they
believed it was therefore unnecessary to
include clarification in the ad as to how the
comparison could be verified. Despite the
reference to FPA statistics, Golden Charter’s
adverts were still found to be in breach of
CAP code.
Shortly before Golden Charter, another
funeral service provider fell foul of the
advertising authorities rules and regulations,
Promis Life funeral cover were reprimanded
by the ASA in July that year for television
adverts which featured on ITV4 and 5Star.
The adverts played upon the rising costs of
funerals claiming the average funeral cost
£7,622, quoting the Sun Life Direct Cost of
Dying Survey 2013 as its source. During
the advert, a man said in direct address
to camera: “Here’s a question for you.
How much do you think a funeral costs?
Well you might be shocked, as on top of
the funeral director, hearse, coffin and
other costs it can soon add up to well over
£7,000”, while the figure was displayed at
the bottom of the screen. The ASA received
two complaints regarding the adverts who
questioned whether the figure of £7,622
could be substantiated. In its defence the
funeral service provider’s parent company,
Global Life Distribution stated that the
Funeral Protection Plan was a life insurance
policy that paid out an agreed amount up to
£20,000 upon death. It said that the policy
was designed to provide a payment to be
used to help fund all the immediate costs
associated with a death, including basic
funeral costs, additional costs commonly
associated with a funeral, and additional
costs of dealing with a deceased’s estate and
NOVEMBER 2018