A Christian group has been warned by the Advertising Standards Agency not to repeat a ‘misleading’claim about teenage pregnancy it placed in the New Statesman.
Meanwhile, the Daily Sport has also been warned for a ‘mega-rude home porn film’advert.
Christian Voice’s advert, which appeared under the headline ‘Violent crime – reaping and sowing”, said: ‘There is a Biblical principle that we reap what we sow.
‘It applies to nations as well as to individuals. What politicians sow, the people reap.
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‘When politicians sow evil, the people reap misery, and the poorest reap it the worst.”
It added: ‘Now we have the disaster of teenage infertility.
‘Every government initiative, including the HPV vaccine, will increase it, but as all the targets revolve around pregnancy, no-one in power knows how many young people they are making sterile and nobody cares.”
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One complaint said the claim about HPV – intended to protect against cervical cancer – was misleading.
Christian Voice – which describes itself as ‘a ministry for those Christians who are fed up with the way things are, who have had enough of secularist politicians imposing wickedness on the rest of us’– claimed the ad fell within freedom of expression.
But the ASA ruled without ‘robust, scientific evidence that the HPV vaccine caused infertility in teenagers”, the claim was misleading.
Christian Voice was warned not to repeat the claim.
Sport Newspapers were warned about an advert that said: ‘FREE DVD IN NEXT SUNDAY’S SUNDAY SPORT, MICHELLE THORNE STRIPS AND TALKS SEX…plus her mega-rude home porn film…fans will really love next week’s fantastic giveaway.”
One complaint said ‘free’was misleading, as a premium rate number was needed to unlock some footage, and the ASA asked whether the advert should have included the premium rate number’s cost.
Netcollex, on behalf of Sport Newspapers, said the main feature was free, and the bonus footage cost was clear at point of sale.
But the ASA said the advert implied the DVD’s content was all free, and was likely to mislead, and that the absence of premium rate call costs was ‘misleading by omission”.
Netcollex were told to ensure future adverts did not repeat those mistakes.
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