The ad: A poster advertising the Playstation game In Cold Blood. It showed hands bound in barbed wire.

So? The Advertising Standards Association of Ireland received a number of complaints. The complaints: The complainants considered the depiction of hands bound in barbed wire to be "grossly offensive. They felt the use of torture as an advertising ploy was reprehensible." A number of complainants were concerned because they felt the primary consumer of Playstation products were children and young adults. Others expressed concern that this type of imagery is normally used by organisations such as Amnesty International and that its power to evoke a response in real circumstances might be diminished.

The defence: The advertisers said the poster was developed and produced specifically for the Irish market. It was designed to appeal to an adult gaming audience. The idea was to communicate the gritty nature of the In Cold Blood espionage game to gamers through the use of "a strong image that represents John Cord's hands (the game's hero) being tied up. Although unconventional in style, their own pre-testing did not raise any specific issues, particularly those referred to by the complainants." The image of the bound hands was designed to be an "impersonal arresting visual in keeping with the game's attributes and it was not meant to be provocative, offensive or insensitive as claimed. They believed that the contrast of the colour logos against the black and white image, together with the obvious nature of the communication that this is for a PlayStation game, meant that the poster would not be taken literally and misinterpreted. They went on to say that Playstation does not condone torture or human rights abuse and regretted if the material had caused offence.

"They did not accept that the poster was a parody of Amnesty-style advertising."

The verdict: The complaint was upheld. Why? "The ASAI code requires that an advertisement should contain nothing that is likely to cause grave or widespread offence. Advertisers should take account of public sensitivities in the preparation and publication of advertisements and should not use offensive or provocative copy or images merely to attract attention. The complaints committee considered the response of the advertisers and concluded that the advertisement was in breach of the code."

All quotes from the ASAI report on the complaint.

The ASAI website contains the full text of the codes as well as case histories and other interesting information: www.asai.ie

The Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs also deals with complaints about advertising. These may often have a legal implication, such as consumers seeking compensation or redress. In 1999, the office carried out a total of 1,320 investigations, and among these advertising was the single largest category, with 463 complaints.