Fire advert ruled inoffensive

Viewers have complained about a hard-hitting TV campaign, which depicts a family losing a child in a kitchen fire, saying its too graphic.

The Fire Service ads are aimed at shocking people into realising the deadly consequences of leaving cooking unattended.

The first advertisement shows a mother in her kitchen addressing the camera: "Today we're going to make a sausage frittata, a delicious meal for the whole family".

Her two daughters run around in the background and when one demands attention, she says sheepishly "sometimes it can take a while" and turns her back on the pan on the stove.

It ignites, and flames spread quickly, engulfing the kitchen. One child is trapped behind flames and the mother and remaining child scream in terror.

In another ad, in the same programme break, the kitchen is shown charred and gutted. The mother and one of her daughters wander through hugging and sobbing, suggesting that one child has died. In each ad, the words "Unattended cooking kills" appear followed by the Fire Service logo and website address.

Three people complained to the Advertising Standards Authority about the advertisements.

One complainant, M. Clayton, said: " I appreciate that it is an important message but seeing a little girl burn to death is not what I want to see when I am relaxing after a hard day, it is too much and made me cry."

The ASA chairman said the authority needed to consider whether the advertisement was prepared with a sense of social responsibility, whether it contained anything which would cause widespread offence and whether opinions were distinguishable from facts.

It did not uphold the complaints.

The Fire Service said the ad did not show anyone being harmed.

"Only damage to assets is shown ... Nothing graphic such as burning or blood is shown and no distasteful implications are made."

It said past messaging about unattended cooking had little effect on cooking behaviour.

"So, appropriately toned consequence-based messaging was required to change long-established cooking norms in our society."

The Commercial Approvals Bureau said: "If the commercial strikes a chord with viewers then it is surely achieving the aim of the Fire Service, to educate the public in how easily a fire in the home can take hold."

The authority said its complaints board was "unanimously of the view that the ad had been prepared and played with the due sense of social responsibility" and although of concern to the complainants, would not be likely to cause serious offence.