Complaints about a Hobson’s Pledge advertisement published in the New Zealand Herald have been partly upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority.
The lobby group’s two-page advert, published on August 7 on the front page and second page of the newspaper, called to restore “the foreshore and seabed to public ownership”. It included a map of New Zealand, an image of a beachball on sand next to a sign saying “beach closed”, and commentary on Customary Marine Titles.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received more than 672 complaints about the ad and a decision released today partly upheld some of those complaints.
The ASA complaint’s board said the identity and position of the advertiser, Hobson’s Pledge, was clear. A majority of the board’s members said the advocacy advertisement did not reach the threshold to breach the ‘Decency and Offensiveness’ or the ‘Fear and Distress’ rules.
However, the board said: “Some claims in the advertisement were materially misleading as to the effect of customary marine title and therefore the advertising was not socially responsible.”