Complaints over minicab ad campaign
Transport for London adverts criticised as irresponsible because they imply women who are attacked may be to blame
A hard-hitting campaign that features a woman being attacked after taking an unlicensed London minicab has prompted complaints that it is irresponsible because it implies women are to blame if incidents occur.
The Advertising Standards Authority has received 10 complaints about the ad campaign, which tells women to "Know what you're getting into", and is running on TV, cinema and on London Underground posters during the festive season.
Transport for London's unsettling campaign, developed by ad agency M&C Saatchi, shows a woman taking a cab and being attacked by the driver. The attacker and his victim are never seen during the ad.
The main thrust of the complaints to the ASA is that the ad implies that if an attack occurs it is the fault of the woman and that the onus is on the woman to be careful, with no focus on the attackers.
Some of the complainants also argued that the ad campaign is traumatising to anyone who has suffered a sexual attack in such circumstances. Other complainants said that the ad campaign is offensive and irresponsible.
The ASA is assessing the complaints and will decide whether there is cause to investigate whether the ad campaign has breached the advertising code.
TfL's campaign was launched earlier this month, to coincide with the alcohol-fuelled Christmas party season, backed by Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, the Metropolitan Police Service and the City of London Police. It forms part of the Mayor's Safer Travel at Night initiative, which was originally launched six years ago by Johnson's predecessor Ken Livingstone.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/de ... d-campaign
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