Monday, January 28, 2008

NZ Store blasted over humorous ad

We read:

"An advertisement by a New Zealand chain of electrical appliance stores has been labelled socially irresponsible for encouraging people to get into debt. The Advertising Standards Authority said that a flyer distributed by the Bond and Bond company - reading: "NZ has the 3rd highest level of personal debt, help us get to No. 1" - breached its code of ethics, the New Zealand Herald reported.

The Invercargill Budget Advisory Service lodged a complaint, saying the wording was socially irresponsible because the agency "constantly sees people with huge debts they have no way of paying."

Bond and Bond said the ad was "cheeky with an irreverent tone, and we do not believe the wording was offensive."

Source