Conor Pope: Advertising hype and hyperbole

The monthly meetings of Ireland’s advertising watchdog must be great fun. It must marvel at all the ways members of the general public can be irritated.

We're not talking mild annoyance here: the only people the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland hear from are those who have been irked to such a degree that they are prepared to make a formal complaint. In writing.

According to the self-regulatory body’s recently published annual report, 1,221 written complaints about 924 ads were submitted last year, and 72 were found to be in breach of its standards. At less than 10 per cent, only a small minority of the complaints made are entertained, but that does not paint a full picture.

A recent Lidl promotion carried in one of its advertising leaflets featured a recipe for "Healthy eggy bread". The advertising material pictured three thick slices of maple syrup-slathered French toast on a plate with strawberries and blueberries. Someone complained to the authority on the basis that the breakfast Lidl pictured did not look particularly healthy.

Then there was a radio ad for a dog training school that drew fire because, one complainant said, it was part of a trend “where men are belittled, mocked, painted as idiots and in this case compared to dogs”.

The watchdog also handled a complaint against the Kerry Group over a Deep South-themed television ad for Denny's Fire and Smoke ham. The meat, the ad promised, would make consumers "happier than a tornado in a trailer park".

This phrase is apparently pretty common in the southern states of the US, but someone in Ireland who heard it objected on the grounds that tornadoes can kill people.

What is most remarkable – at least from where Pricewatch is sitting – is that in each of these cases the complaint was upheld. But the watchdog has form when it comes to being somewhat literal in the face of complaints that most of us would dismiss as absurd.

Best-built? Prove it

So it proved last month when

Toyota

fell foul of the authority over a 20-year-old claim that its products are “the best-built cars in the world”. The authority said the ad would have to go because such a boast “could never be fully proven”.

The Toyota ruling came on foot of complaints from unnamed individuals, which in turn came in the wake of Toyota Ireland recalling 27,000 cars over concerns about airbags last year. In 2013, a further 26,000 cars sold in Ireland were recalled because the airbags supplied by a third party were suspect. Both recalls were part of a much wider international incident.

So, with all these recalls, could a claim to being the “best” really stand up? Some members of the public did not think so.

In the defence it presented to the watchdog, Toyota’s ad agency outlined what it believed were key elements of its client’s success and submitted a range of international publications and reports that it said substantiated the claims. It pointed out that Toyota “dominates annual quality awards and value-for-money rankings” and said its vehicles “were known for holding their value better than its competitors’ products”. For good measure, Toyota said it had “literally revolutionised manufacturing, process engineering, and quality, setting new standards for operational excellence”.

All this was well and good, the authority said, but “a very high level of substantiation would be required to prove a ‘superlative’ claim such as ‘best-built’, particularly in the context of it being ‘in the world’.”

The complaint was upheld and Toyota was asked not to use the claim again, at least in the Irish market.

Toyota Ireland has since accused the authority of "dancing on a pin head". Toyota chief executive Steve Tormey said he was "absolutely bemused" by the ruling. He said the decision was "all the more baffling given we have been using the proposition in the Irish market for 20 years" and that the watchdog had repeatedly accepted Toyota's substantiation for the brand.

“It would appear to us they are dancing on a pin head as regards the use of the English language and common sense,” he said, “particularly given that the independent automotive industry expert commissioned by the authority expressed the viewpoint that the proposition had been substantiated in relation to the ‘best-built mass-produced cars in the world’.”

The watchdog’s code is voluntary and has no legal standing, so there is nothing to stop Toyota continuing to use the claim – although it seems doubtful the company would want to be at loggerheads with the watchdog on an ongoing basis.