A COMPLAINT by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) that an advertisement for furniture retailer Ikea encouraged and trivialised absenteeism has been upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI).
The advertisement was one of 10 complaints, including a complaint against an Irish TimesReader Offer, upheld by the ASAI last month.
Ictu said the the Ikea advertising slogan “Be ‘Sick’ Bring out your Rebel” encouraged employees to take days off work pretending to their employer to “be sick”. They also considered the advertisement to be irresponsible, that it trivialised illness and that it encouraged suspicion about the truthfulness of employees and absenteeism due to sickness.
The advertisement was particularly irresponsible given the current swine flu situation, Ictu said.
In defending the complaint Ikea said it was “in no way” linked to absenteeism and referred only to the fact that people would want to spend as much time as possible in their newly decorated room.
However, the ASAI found against the company and upheld the complaint.
A complaint that an Irish TimesReader Offer advertised a service that did not exist in Ireland was also upheld by the ASAI.
The offer concerned a digital “Freeview” television. The ASAI found that there was no digital terrestrial television (DTT) service in Ireland and that “Freeview” referred to the service available in the UK.
It considered that the statement in the advertisement could lead some consumers to believe that the television advertised would be able to receive DTT via the aerial, and was therefore misleading and in breach of the advertising code.
A complaint that an advert for the hair product Brylcreem suggested that the consumption of alcohol could contribute towards sexual success was also upheld.
The ad centred on the concept of a rugby dictionary in which the word maul had the definition “to handle (somebody or something) roughly, usually considered to be a bad idea as plying them with drink tends to create a more agreeable result” and bore the slogan “Brylcreem – Effortless”.
A complainant said the advertisement was “offensive and potentially dangerous” and would encourage young men to get women drunk in order to take advantage of them.
The company said the brand was targeted at “younger male adults” who it was trying to entertain in a “relatively innocent, irreverent and exaggerated way.”
The ASAI found against the company.
