# Complaints against Barnardo's ad not upheld

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2007/08/21/complaints-against-barnardo039s-ad-not-upheld/
- Published: 2007-08-21T23:00:00+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Complaints to The Times and The Telegraph that an advertisement for Barnardo’s was
offensive have been dismissed by the Advertising Standards Authority.
The two newspapers
each received one complaint over an ad which showed an image of a young boy’s face.
The Times ad said: He told his parents to f**k off. He told his foster parents to
f**k off. He told fourteeen social workers to f**k off. He told us to f**k off, 
but we didn’t. And we still haven’t. The Telegraph ran the same ad, but with an
asterisk in place of the ‘k’.

Barnardo’s said it had chosen to imply a swear word in the ad because it wanted 
to reflect the reality and attitudes of young people with whom it worked. The organisation
said the ad highlighted that it was not deflected by bad language and would persevere
and look beyond aggressive behaviour to see the potential in every child.

Both papers said they were aware of the sensitive nature of the ad but considered
that it was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence among their readers.

## Advertisement

The ASA noted that the advertisement had appeared in newspapers with a predominantly
adult readership and that both papers had received only one complaint direct.

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