Advertising Standards Authority

Anyone who thinks the so-called “Uber City” for the Wellington region is going to deliver anything like that which it is hyped to needs a good crack across the bonce with a length of 4×2.

Same goes got he Hawkes Bay.

The name Uber City is a joke too…even if you combined them all they still won’t have the population of South Auckland.

Stephen Franks highlights a problem with the promotors of the Uber City…they are proven liars .

According to Ms Wilde her Council not being allowed to lie in official advertising “could drastically restrict how local bodies operate”. She believes it “poses a real risk to robust political debate”. Putting aside the inconvenient fact that Council advertising should be informative, not political propaganda, it is incredible that there is no media furore over her further defence that seeking the Advertising Standards Authority ruling was “legal nitpicking”.

The DomPost has reported the matter under the heading “Advertising Standards Authority calls GWRC super-city ad ‘misleading’”. Note the implied warnings to ignore – “calls’ instead of “finds” and the word ‘misleading’ in quotes to distance the DomPost from the dreadfully unwelcome judgmentalism implicit in ‘misleading’.

Take a look at the ASA report, ( 15/004) which attaches my firm’s letter setting out the facts. Someone in the GWRC was either too stupid or too reckless to merit staying employed, or set out to deceive. See also the submission on behalf of the GWRC which says essentially that councils should be free from ASA supervision of their advertising, because being constrained to the truth would be problematic.

How do the honest members of the Council feel about this? Will they seek an inquiry into it. Will anyone be held accountable?

Businesses, remember that indifference to honesty, when you next want to shade the truth to GWRC. Its leader thinks that “misleading advertising” which was “not prepared with a due sense of social responsibility” is just robust debate.

In 2008 I blogged on journalistic blind eyes to lies by politicians, compared to their frothing pursuit of easily made mistaken business claims.

“As a commercial lawyer I’m sickened by the left’s sanctimony toward business. Labour love passing laws they could never satisfy in their own conduct. They lie happily, yet business people (properly) face prison or huge fines for faulty prospectus statements.”

I’ve had some journalists and politicians claim that it is because business can lose people so much money. We saw that claim in full lynch mob glory in the media’s repeated whipping of two former Ministers of Justice. They were found by a court to have been honest though mistaken. They’d failed to add enough emphasis to their written warnings of the risks facing Lombard Finance.

The company’s failure (like most mezzanine development finance lenders) had nothing to do with the misleadingly mild warnings. Many commentators wanted them in jail for years, nonetheless.

Read more »

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz

John Drinnan is a fool.

His latest column mentions the decision b the Press Council to open up membership finally to online media.

This is interesting because in current proceedings before the Human Rights Review Tribunal I have told I can’t be a journalist because i’m not a member of a voluntary regime like the Press Council, but the lawyer ignored the problem that until last week I couldn’t possibly join because their constitution wouldn’t allow it.

I also had to battle that premise int eh High Court, but fortunately Justice Asher saw through that attempt, not so you would know it from the perspective of the Human Rights Commission.

The idea of expanding the Press Council’s reach has been around for years and was given a boost after the Law Commission suggested digital media should join a combined media standards organisation, in return for receiving legal protections available to journalists. Then Justice Minister Judith Collins – a close friend of Slater – quashed that plan.

However the Press Council has since gone ahead with a scheme to represent digital media and blogs under its own steam, and that was unveiled this week.

But the ethics of bloggers and the media in general have come under deep scrutiny since Dirty Politics was published. Neville said it was clear in Press Council rules that publishers could not be paid for editorial.

“There is a grey area now with so-called native advertising, which is meant to be quality journalism which stacks up on its journalistic merits, even though it is sympathetic to one party.”

There were questions about whether the Press Council should have jurisdiction over native content, or if that should be covered by the Advertising Standards Authority.

Dirty Politics author Nicky Hager said the Press Council was getting into complex waters judging digital media on the basis of individuals rather than articles, and deciding whether they were journalism or not.

“My fear would be what could happen is that unscrupulous blogs could be given credibility but not end up with any accountability.

“Sometimes people are publishing public relations, and sometimes journalism,” he said.

Read more »

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz

A correspondent emails the tipline:

I see Labour is still rolling out the lies on the $60 baby bonus despite it being shown up as deceptive. Received this email only today repeating the policy as originally rolled out by the Silent T.

Read more »

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz

Isn’t this just dandy. Some clown thinks it’s a great idea to flog off RTDs in a sachet. Let’s see how that works out for them.

Sachets of alcohol designed to be slipped discreetly into purses and pockets are being sold in liquor stores, alarming police and alcohol-watch groups.

Branded as “Cheeky” and “Sneaky”, the shots are easily concealed, palm-sized alcopops promoted as drinks to carry all the time.

Already banned by some retailers in Britain, they are the cheapest single drink on sale, at just $2.

Looking more like a condom, these 20% alcohol RTDs are being pushed as a new way to score with the ladies. Even their Facebook page is happily promoting them to young girls.  Read more »

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz

Apparently an ad for vacuum cleaners is racist.

The NZ Herald reports:

Vacuum cleaner retailer Godfreys has withdrawn a television advertisement after multiple complaints of racism.

The television advertisement promoting a 50 per cent off weekend sale featured a white man wearing a wig.

The ad stated, in part: “aww hey Bro, this one’s bigger than Kim Dotcom’s chilly bin aye … Godfreys heaps big sale … Aww bro this one’s bigger than Gerry Brownlee’s undies aye … Aww it’s heaps big, choice.”  Read more »

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz

Silly old Prince Charles has been caught lobbying directly…that wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t on behalf of quack products and ‘therapies’.

Prince Charles has secretly lobbied the Health Secretary to back discredited homeopathic medicines.

The Prince and Jeremy Hunt – both strong supporters of alternative therapies – held a meeting at Clarence House last week.

Homeopathy and alternative medicines were on the agenda, according to well-placed sources. The NHS already spends millions each year on alternative medicines, at a time when it is restricting life-saving drugs for those with cancer.

Charles is understood to be unhappy that government plans to set up a register of practitioners of herbal and Chinese medicine – designed to give them an element of respectability – have stalled.   Read more »

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz

The Biomag people are so convinced that sleeping on a magnetic surface has proven health benefits that they freely advertise these.  But medical claims require rigorous proof, and even though it is well marketed and probably a nice sleep, the ASA isn’t buying their bullshit

The Complaints Board then turned to consider the claim in the FAQ section of the website that said: “Your BioMag mattress pad will not only ease your pain, but an increased production of melatonin will help you get a deeper, restorative sleep.”

Looking at the substantiation provided by the Advertiser, the Complaints Board noted that while there was some evidence to support the role of magnetic energy and the production of melatonin, those studies were clear that this link was yet to be verified, however, in the Complaints Board’s view the evidence that did exist could not be extrapolated to support claims about the influence of the BioMag on melatonin.

Given the high standards of social responsibility required for therapeutic claims the Complaints Board said the evidence supplied by the Advertiser was not of sufficient rigour to substantiate the claims on the website. Therefore, the Complaints Board ruled that, the website advertisement was in breach of Principles 2 and 3 of the Therapeutic Products Advertising Code.

Accordingly, the Complaints Board ruled to Uphold the complaint.

Good on them too.

Read more »

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz

Good job, the grievance industry  lost a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority that this advert was racist.

Pak’nSave will be ecstatic with all the free advertising.

The Advertising Standards Authority has chucked out a claim of racism, saying the mispronunciation of Maori words in a supermarket ad was not racist enough to cause ”widespread offence”.

The ASA received a number of complaints relating to a Pak’nSave advertisement aired on television in May promoting Kiwi Kai Week.  Read more »

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz

An ad for a web-hosting firm has been banned because it features Pamela Anderson dancing in a bikini…

An advertisement featuring Pamela Anderson dancing provocatively in a bikini has been banned in Britain.

The TV commercial for web-hosting firm Dreamscape Networks shows a man in a business meeting fantasising about his boss, played by the former Baywatchactress, covering herself and her brunette assistant in cream.

After a number of complaints from viewers, Dreamscape executives tried to defend the clip by arguing it portrays Anderson as an “attractive, dynamic and confident” businesswoman.

However, bosses at the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) have now ruled the advert cannot be aired again in its current form, as it suggests female colleagues are viewed as sexual objects.

“We considered the ad was likely to cause serious offence to some viewers on the basis that it was sexist and degrading to women,” ASA said.  Read more »

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz

Some wowsers have now complained to the Advertising Standards Austhority about this ad. Apparently it is inappropriate for online viewing.

An advertisement for Carl’s Jr, already banned from TV screens, has been deemed inappropriate for online use.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received a complaint after the ad – featuring two women in bikini-tops and cropped shorts competing against each other at the “Memphis BBQ cookoff” – appeared on the website for Four OnDemand.

Like hell it is…and now it appears on Whaleoil….where it appeared before.

Read more »

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz