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The Advertising Standards Bureau Should Be Abolished


The Advertising Standards Bureau has shown itself to be a toothless tiger that won't act against filth in advertising, by dismissing over 200 complaints against the Nandos Commercial.

This excellent news.com.au article provides a good summary of how useless the ASB is:
POLE dancing strippers are compatible with family values, but animated aliens bearing hamburgers are deemed unfit for television, Australia's ad watchdog says.

The Advertising Standards Bureau dismissed 200 public complaints about a Nando's chicken chain ad featuring a pole dancer wearing only a G-string.

But an animated McDonald's advertisement showing a girl being abducted by aliens and rewarded with a Happy Meal has been axed for undermining "stranger danger" messages.

The ad watchdog previously banned a bank ad in which a man in a bunny suit was tripped up by a shopkeeper - because of one complaint of animal cruelty.


Also excellent critiques of the decision are available here and here.

The byline at the top of the ASB webpage says:
The ASB is here to make sure all advertising, wherever it appears, meets the high standards laid down in the advertising codes. Our website will tell you more about the rules for advertising, let you complain online, and explain how the ASB is working to keep Australian advertising standards as high as possible.


High Standards ? Have a look at the "High Standard Advertising Codes. It's a single page of vaguely worded single sentences. What a joke.

the ASB is working to keep Australian advertising standards as high as possible


It would be hard to say that with a straight face.

The whole bureau has shown itself to be a farce that's incapable of regulating the advertising industry. The Federal Government should take control of advertising standards by dissolving the Advertising Standards Bureau and regulate advertising using a government appointed panel.

Let's have a look at the members of the Advertising Standards Bureau's board:
  • Tanveer Ahmed - Journalist

  • John Bokor - Artist

  • John Brown - Politician/Australian Institute of Marketing Gold Medallist

  • Sibylla Budd - Actress

  • Joanna Cohen - Freelance Film Writer

  • Khoa Do - Film Director

  • Ann Drummond - Former Minister

  • Thomas Keneally - Writer

  • Sophie Killen - Media Academic

  • John Konrads - Sportsman with "vast experience in marketing and advertising"

  • John Lee - CEO NSW Transit Authority, former head of Marketing at CityRail

  • Catharine Lumby - Media Academic

  • Paul McCarthy - Paul is a committed vegetarian with interests in holistic health, fitness, individual rights and film.

  • Josephine Tiddy - Author/Consultant

  • Emma Tom - Writer

  • Helen Wicks - Mother


Almost the entire board is stacked with members with an interest in the media industry. Do you think this is a representative body to be administering standards in advertising ? It's a clear case of "caesar judging caesar".

If you wanted to appoint a board that is as pro-advertising industry as possible, it would be difficult to go further than the board already in place. Remember, this isn't a board for judging an awards ceremony, this is a board that judges standards. You don't need media people to judge standards.

Boycott Nando's is calling on the Federal Government to legislate the Advertising Standards Bureau out of existance.

You can help this to happen by lobbying the Minister for Communications Senator Helen Coonan to make this occur.


Minister for Communications Senator Helen Coonan
Webhttp://www.minister.dcita.gov.au/Contact
Tel02 6277 7480
Fax02 6273 4154
Emailminister@dcita.gov.au
Address     Office of the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
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