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New Decisions: Workplace Safety, Electricity Savings and More

Spark Ad Deemed OK with Focus on Family Not Safety

Spark’s television advertisement portraying a logging industry worker using a personal audio device whilst working around heavy machinery led to a complaint that this represented unsafe work place practice.

The ASA Complaints Board noted the advertisement did not show the person working while listening to music and the advertisement’s focus was on the father and daughter relationship.

The Board said that when considered in its entirety, the advertisement did not reach the threshold to encourage a disregard for safety and had been prepared with the requisite standard of social responsibility.

Flick’s $2m Savings Claim OK with ASA

Flick Electric Company recently had an advertising campaign that stated, in part:

“We’ve saved NZ $2 Million on Power! Join the Party. With our winter Savings Guarantee.”

A complaint said the advertisement over-represented the $2 million dollars of savings and was misleading as the calculation did not take into account competitor discounts.

The Complaints Board said the methodology of the savings figure was clear and there was enough information on Flick’s website to signal how the savings were calculated, therefore the claim was unlikely to mislead. The Complaints Board said the advertisement had been prepared with a due sense of social responsibility and was not in breach of the Code of Ethics.

The following decisions were released on 3 August 2016: