Nursery World - 'Silver spoon' campaign

Barnardo's controversial 'silver spoon' campaign of last autumn has earned the distinction of being the most complained about press advertisement in the history of the Advertising Standards Authority. In its report for 2003, published last week, the ASA said 475 people had complained about the first of four advertisements, a computer manipulated photograph that showed a cockroach in the mouth of a newborn baby (above). The complaints were upheld on the grounds that 'the charity had used unduly shocking images of babies to attract attention that were likely to cause serious or widespread offence'. The ASA also upheld a complaint made by a father about promotional postcards sent to schools by Letts Education. The postcards said, 'I am a wimp' and 'I am a big wuss', and instructed pupils to stick them on the backs of friends who did not 'have the bottle for the Letts challenge'. The ASA said they were irresponsible and might encourage bullying. Last year the ASA received 14,277 complaints about 10,754 advertisements.

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