Audience measurement and data companies

Introduction

 

In this blogpost, I am going to look at media companies which collect and measure the number of ratings, views, sales, subscriptions, etc from audiences (viewers, readers, listeners).

 

Why would you measure audience views?

 

The purpose of measuring audience ratings is to gather data on how many people are watching a program or channel to get a estimate on the viewing retention rate on seeing how popular it is.

 

Also the purpose of gathering audience views find out who is watchin the programs so they can create psychographic profiles to ensure that they are appealing to the right audience as well as making sure they are following television and advertising standards and legislations.

 

My reflection

 

I feel the purpose of gathering audience ratings and measurements is effective as it allows broadcasters and advertisers to gather data to ensure that their programs are effective in attracting customers as well as appealing to their interests.

 

Although companies have different ways of measuring audience ratings, I feel some of the methods are not as effective because it is not reliable. The information may not be reliable because you cant gather how many people are watching the program, there may be more than 1 person per tv set. Also they only gather a average as most tv sets/households are not recorded in their listings.

NRS (national readership survey)

"The National Readership Survey provides the most authoritative and valued audience research in use for print advertising trading in the UK.

 

The survey covers over 250 of Britain's major newspapers and magazines, showing the size and nature of the audiences they achieve.

 

In a dynamic and changing digital media age, NRS will strive to evolve partnerships with the leading digital data sources providing a clearer vision of the combined total audience future." (1)

"What we do: overview

• A continuous survey, 12 months of the year, 7 days a week
• A large sample: 36,000 interviews a year with adults aged 15+ per year
• A random sample: interviews only conducted at randomly selected addresses with randomly selected individuals
• Interviews conducted in respondent's own home
• The average interview takes 27 minutes
• Respondents asked about their readership of a list of newspapers, newspaper supplements and magazines, as well as information about themselves " (2)

"The National Readership Survey is a joint venture company in the UK between the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), the Newspaper Publishers Association (NPA) and the Periodical Publishers Association (PPA). It provides audience research for print advertising trading in the UK. The survey covers over 250 of Britain's major newspapers and magazines, showing the size and nature of the audiences they achieve. It classifies audiences in a number of ways, one of which is the NRS social grade." (3)

(Reflection) I feel that the method on how the NRS collect information may be reliable as they are gathering and conducting their own primary research. This is much more efficent as they are gathering data manually, and on a larger scale/estimate than the BARB. The only problem which may occur is that as the company collects data manually, it is more susceptable to human error and when reverting the data to computer graphs, mistakes may occur.

TGI (target group index)

"TGI enables:

• Understanding of consumer attitudes, motivations, and behaviour
• Comprehensive market segmentation
• Accountability in marketing and communication strategies

Established in 1969, TGI sits at the very heart of the media industry, both in Great Britain and over 60 markets across the globe. What makes TGI such an indispensable tool for media owners, agencies and brand owners alike is the depth and breadth of what it reveals about consumer choices.

There are three key elements to this which together inform all principal parts of the marketing and planning mix, from initial target investigation to executing the final campaign. They are the Who, Why and How of consumer understanding." (4)

 

"TGI or (Target Group Index) is the longest established single source marketing and media survey in Britain and was established by BMRB in 1969. TGI has since expanded into over 60 countries with over 700,000 people being interviewed every year.

In Britain, TGI collects information from a representative sample of around 25,000 adults annually, the data is released quarterly. The survey asks questions covering consumer attitudes, motivations, media habits and purchase behaviour. TGI is a single source survey meaning respondents have to fill out the entire questionnaire, covering all question areas." (5)

  

(Reflection) The TGI is a important company in terms of media/audience research as it helps companies to gather information on psychographic profiles to ensure that they can create the right programs/channels at the appropriate times. They also carry out primary research all year round, which means they gather constantly updated data on customers.

 

BARB (broadcasters audience research board)

 

"The Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) is the organisation that compiles audience measurement and television ratings in the United Kingdom. It was created to replace a previous system, where the BBC and ITV companies compiled their own ratings, JICTAR. It is owned by the BBC, the ITV companies, Channel 4, Channel 5, BSkyB and the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising. Participating viewers have a box on top of their TV which tracks the programmes they watch."(6)

 

"BARB viewing data give broadcasters, advertisers and other interested parties a minute by minute breakdown of viewing at regional and national levels. This information is vital in assessing how programmes, channels or advertising campaigns have performed and provides the basis for airtime advertising trading.

 

In order to estimate viewing patterns across all TV households, a carefully selected panel of private homes is recruited. Each home on the panel represents, on average, about 5,000 TV homes. These panel homes are drawn from a household sample that is designed by RSMB to remain representative of all television households across the UK. This means it always encompasses the full range of demographic and TV reception variations, amongst other variables, that are found across the country and in different ITV and BBC regions." (7)

 

(Reflection) I feel that this method of gathering data may be unreliable as it gathers averages of information and it interprets data on a estimate of other households. This data is not accurate because other households may not be according to their listings and they are going to be generating mis-interpretting data.

Example of a rating sheet from the BARB:

 

  

Prezi presentation

 

This prezi was created before by myself and other class members. I decided to include it as it has relevent information for this blogpost.

This Prezi contains information on Audience Research. It includes the companies, the ARA (Audience Research & Analysis), the BARB (Broadcasters Audience Research Board), the RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research Ltd) and the POSTAR (Poster Audience Research).

 

Customer Audience Research on Prezi

 

Bibliography

 

http://www.thinkbox.tv/server/show/nav.836 (17/12/2012)

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audience_measurement (17/12/2012)

(1) http://www.nrs.co.uk/purpose.html (17/12/2012)

(2) http://www.nrs.co.uk/interview.html (17/12/2012)

(3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Readership_Survey (17/12/2012)

(4) http://kantarmedia-tgigb.com/ (17/12/2012)

(5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Target_Group_Index (17/12/2012)

(6) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcasters%27_Audience_Research_Board (17/12/2012)

 

(7) http://www.barb.co.uk/resources/reference-documents/how-we-do-what-we-do (17/12/2012)

Psychographics in terms of Television

Introduction

In this blogpost, I am going to explain what are psychographics and the different audience psychographic profiles according to thinkbox.com.

What are Psychographics?

"Psychographics is the study of personality, values, attitudes, interests, and lifestyles". In terms of media, it is the type or category of customers that companies target to aim their advertisements at.

The study of psychographics is linked to the type of audience as it helps advertisers create a "psychographic profile" to help them target the interests and thoughts of the target market.

Reflecting on the idea of psychographics, I think its a good way of targeting and segmenting the ideological audience you wish to focus your advertisements on because it helps to engage with them by finding out what is in their interests and what would gain their attention.

Audience psychographic profiles - Thinkbox.tv

• Men 16-34 - This is the most difficult psychographic profile to target as they dont spend as much time watching tv as women of the same age range. Majority of these men are not in a commited relationship (have a family) so the centre or their lives are their social lives and work/careers/education. The way to target this profile is to target sport, comedy, fitness, racing and "watercooler" (programs/channels after watershed timings) channels/programs.

• Men ABC1 - Men in this group are less likely to be separated or divorced than many other demographics with over two thirds married or cohabiting. This profile are more likely to be career-orientated and have a larger financial budget for entertainment/leisure mediums. Upmarket men love the idea of being able to access a barrage of channels and as a result, are very receptive to digital TV. They continue to take full advantage of its services, interacting with both programmes and ads alike and paying for content such as a sports and films.

• Men C2DE -  Men in this bracket are more likely to be footloose and fancy free or to continue working after the birth of their children. As a result, their media habits generally remain more constant, irrespective of age. Although sport forms a sizable chunk of their TV viewing and their weekends are dominated by sporting events (particularly football, rugby and F1), they also watch a good range of other genres, including Films, general entertainment, reality and comedy.

• Men 55+ - The majority of men over the age of 55 are retired and therefore have significantly more free time than they did when they were younger. They have longer to spend on the things that they enjoy and this is reflected in their media consumption. Men of this age usually watch channels such as BBC 1 and 2 and documentary channels like, The Discovery Channel.

• Women 16-34 - By definition, young women have an incredibly broad set of media tastes and preferences. More than any other group, this is not just a matter of individual inclination but also life-stage. Compared to men of the same age group, young women generally consume more TV, with nearly half falling into the medium to heavy viewer categories.

• Women ABC1 - Upmarket women have a higher tendency to have children in the household and are more likely to be separated or divorced than their male counterparts. Women in this bracket value TV, although they don't rely on it or regard it as a pastime. This attitude is largely reflected in their tastes and habits. They are much more inclined to watch during late peak when the kids have gone to bed. Their favourites are E4, UKTV Style and Living rate alongside Channel 4, ITV and the BBC.

• Women C2DE - With over 11 million C2DE women currently living in the UK, this is one of the largest demographic audiences. It encompasses women from across the age spectrum, from young mums to retirees. ITV and Five rank amongst their favourite channels, although digital channels such as ITV2, E4 and Living TV also do well. Childrens channels such as Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network are also watched regularly reflecting the high amount of shared viewing between mums and children. Unsurprisingly, soaps, dramas and reality shows perform well against this audience

• Women 55+ - 55 may have been considered old a few decades ago, this is no longer the case as peoples attitudes are getting younger. With nearly 9 million women over the age of 55 living in the UK today, Mature women generally rely upon TV for information and entertainment. Generally, women in this age bracket are more time-rich than they were when they were younger as their children have grown up and moved on and they may not be in full-time work.

• Housewives with Children - Commercial channels are particularly well-received and account for two thirds of their viewing. ITV 2, Living TV, UKTV Style, E4 and the children's channels such as Nick Junior and Cartoon Network are amongst their favourites. Although housewives with kids have the same tendencies to watch in peak as other demographics, they also watch throughout the day, providing ample targeting opportunities.

• Children - They have complex social networks, formed both inside and outside the home through everything from school to online chat-rooms. They also soak-up new technology, compared to the rate of their parents. On average, children claim to watch nearly three hours of TV per day (mostly digital, as now have a wide range of watching different channels and programs from all around the world). For both boys and girls, music channels, children's channels, sport and film are the main drivers of viewing.

• Boys & TV  - On the whole, boys claim to watch more TV than girls - 2.7 hours average per night, with a higher consumption of the digital channels. Although there is some variation by age, cartoons still rank highly with boys under the age of 12. As they hit their teen years, sports and music become the main focus. Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and The Disney Channel remain firm favourites.

• Girls & TV - Girls claim to watch 2.4 hours of TV per day, although this increases as they mature and their tastes switch to a broader range of genres such as soaps and reality. Girls watch more terrestrial soaps and entertainment, particularly as they get older. Channels that are perferred by girls are BBC 1, ITV, Channel 4, ITV 2, MTV and E4.

Bibliography

 

http://www.thinkbox.tv/server/show/nav.914 (10/12/2012)

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychographic (10/12/2012)

Quantitative and qualitative research

Introduction

In this blog post, I am going to explain the difference in qualitative and quantitative research, provide examples and reflect upon the types of research by highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of the types of research.

What is qualitative research?

Qualitative research is when you gather information in a more in-depth and explanatory way. this means you ask your target audience "open-ended" questions, which is when you allow the customers to give their opinion in a more detailed manner and they are able to have a choice on what they wish to write/respond. Qualitative data cannot be measured.

 

Qualitative research looks at more of the "Why" and "How" of information as well as the other factors (what, when, when). This is because the data that the researchers wish to collect must be more detailed and explore the reason behind the concepts.

Example of qualitative research

One example of qualitative research can be for marketing/advertising purposes. e.g. a restaurant chain could be launching a new menu which be launched at a "niche" target market.

By carrying out qualitative research on a small sample of the target group, the company could make sure that they launch the correct products and according to the tastes and demographics of the target market.

A few methods of qualitative research that they can carry out this context are;

• carry out taster sessions for signed up existing customers
• hand out free samples and get tasters to fill in a survey/questionnaire which asks open-ended questions
• offer the menu to a professional/experienced taster and input the responses in a review.

The advantages of qualitative research are;

• you can find a more in depth explanation and the reason of your target audiences choices. This will help to alter and edit the factors that may go wrong
• it may be more cheaper than quantitative research as it focuses on a small sample group and will not need as much equipment
• the participants are able to provide their own opinions through data.

The disadvantages of qualitative research are;

• it isn't measurable and you are not able to put the information into a statistical graph or chart
• you can't take assumption on a small group of the target market, as there may be other demographics which will affect the answer
• sometimes the open-ended responses are not truthful or fully answered as people may prefer to select options rather than write a sentence.

What is quantitative research?

Quantitative research is data which is in the form of numerical figures, statistics, ratios, etc. This is data that can be measured and gathered into a model/graph. Quantitative research usually asks the target audience questions which have choices (e.g. tick-boxes or multiple choice) and the answers are usually in figures or numerical form.

Quantitive research is not concerned with the why, but the ‘how many’, "who" and ‘what’.

Examples of quantitative research

One example of quantitative research can be for media purposes. e.g. a research group may be wishing to look at which type of media forms influence customers the most (e.g. social networking, internet, television, radio, etc).

They may wish to find this information so they can use the mediums to channel their advertising/promotional material. The forms or methods of quantitative research that they can carry out can be;

• questionnaires to the target audience stating numerical or choice questions. This will help gather personal data for the researcher and put their information into graphs and charts.
• they could find the information using secondary sources, e.g. internet, journals and books to help find information which has already been gathered
• a taster/sample session to help a small sample of customers try out different methods and to see which one sis the most effective/popular/occurring.

 

The advantages of quantitative research are;

• the data collected from quantitative research can be easily interpreted. This is because the data is in figure form, so the information can be gathered and converted into different factors (e.g. ratios, percentages, fractions, etc.)
• the data can be put into graphs and charts, which is an advantage because it can be easily read and downsized to help the data more "understandable".
• "Quantitative research can be used to test hypotheses in experiments because of its ability to measure data using statistics." (1)

The disadvantages of quantitative research are;

• the purpose and context of the research is ignored and it may not be clear to the interpreter of the finalised data.
• another disadvantage is that a large sample of the population must be studied; the larger the sample of people researched, the more statistically accurate the results will be.
• this also creates another disadvantage because that means quantitative research is more expensive, as more materials are needed.

Bibliography

(1) http://www.ehow.co.uk/info_8091178_advantages-disadvantages-qualitative-quantitative-research.html (15/12/2012)

http://samsia-research.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/types-of-research-qualitative.html (15/12/2012)

http://samsia-research.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/ao1-types-of-research-quantitative.html (15/12/2012)

Younger consumers - CAP

Introduction

In this blog post, I am going to research the advertising codes which are created to help protect young customers and viewers against inappropriate material. To help me find this information, I am going to look at the CAP (Committee of Advertising Practice).

Advertising codes for children

 

Effect of advertising on young people

 

"The average young person views more than 3000 ads per day on television (TV), on the Internet, on billboards, and in magazines. Increasingly, advertisers are targeting younger and younger children in an effort to establish “brand-name preference” at as early an age as possible.

Research has shown that young children—younger than 8 years—are cognitively and psychologically defenseless against advertising. They do not understand the notion of intent to sell and frequently accept advertising claims at face value.

Advertisers have traditionally used techniques to which children and adolescents are more susceptible, such as product placements in movies and TV shows, tie-ins between movies and fast food restaurants, tie-ins between TV shows and toy action figures or other products, kids' clubs that are linked to popular shows, and celebrity endorsements."(1)



  Identifying a case/complaint which breaks these codes.

Ad
A magazine ad for "Oh, Lola!" perfume which appeared on 5 August 2011, showed the actress and model Dakota Fanning, sitting on the floor, alone, wearing a pale coloured thigh length dress.  She used one arm to support herself as she leaned backwards and in the other hand she held an oversized bottle of the perfume, which rested in her lap.  The bottle was shaped like a vase holding a flower in bloom.


Issue
Four readers challenged whether the ad was offensive and irresponsible as it portrayed the young model in a sexualised manner.

CAP Code (Edition 12)
1.3 4.1


Assessment

Upheld

The ASA understood that the ad had appeared in publications with a target readership of those over 25 years of age.  We noted that the model was wearing a thigh length soft pink, polka dot dress and that part of her right thigh was visible.  We noted that the model was holding up the perfume bottle which rested in her lap between her legs and we considered that its position was sexually provocative.  We understood the model was 17 years old but we considered she looked under the age of 16.  We considered that the length of her dress, her leg and position of the perfume bottle drew attention to her sexuality.  Because of that, along with her appearance, we considered the ad could be seen to sexualise a child.  We therefore concluded that the ad was irresponsible and was likely to cause serious offence.

The ad breached CAP Code (Edition12) rules 1.3 (Social responsibility) and 4.1 (Harm and offence).

Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form.


Personal reflection

My personal reflection upon the "Oh lola!" advertisement is that they chose an appropriate decision and action upon the advert as it portraying the model in a provacative way, which breaks the codes and restrictions to protect children. The model resembled a teenage or pre-teen female, which would be influential upon kids as it resembled their age range.

The colours, clothing and positioning of the product was placed/chosen innapropriately and would resemble inappropriate sexual characteristics.

Bibliography

http://www.cap.org.uk/ (05/12/2012)

http://www.cap.org.uk/Advertising-Codes.aspx (05/12/2012)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_CAP_Code (05/12/2012)

http://www.fdf.org.uk/speeches/bccc11_laura_coffey.pdf (05/12/2012)

http://www.cap.org.uk/~/media/Files/CAP/New%20Codes/Overview_Final.ashx (05/12/2012)

(1) http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/118/6/2563.full (05/12/2012)

http://www.asa.org.uk/News-resources/~/media/Files/ASA/Adcheck/Ad%20Banks/Offensive/Offensive%20advertising.ashx (05/12/2012)

http://www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications/2011/11/Coty-UK-Ltd/SHP_ADJ_168079.aspx (05/12/2012)

Advertising the ASA

Introduction

In this blog post, I will expand on our group work ideas on how to advertise for the ASA. I am going to lightly analyse and reflect on two existing ASA advertisements by answering three questions. The questions are;

• What do they tell us about the work of the ASA?
• How effective are they?
• Could they be more effective in reaching young people?

Looking at existing adverts

"Their purpose is to inform us about the role of the ASA, the audience is the general public and the language and style are simple, clear and direct"

What do they tell us about the work of the ASA?

Reflecting on the analysis of the ASA advert, the message that the advert is portraying is that they are the "behind the scenes" police or authority of advertisements. So by creating a basic advert which does not get misjudged for a advert promoting a product or service, this advert informs the public that they are here to help sort out any issues simply and easily.

The advert does not have great graphics and colours as it is made to just help reassure the public that somebody is hear to help with issues, it does not need to grab the attention of consumers as its main remit is not to make a profit, but to help get justice.

How effective are they?

I personally feel that the advert is very effective in the simple message that it is trying to portray, but it needs more information on the company as people may not be familiar with the company and pay blind attention to it. Also if it had more use of colours, it may entice people to read the advert.

Could they be more effective in reaching young people?

Our idea for creating a alternative advert for the ASA contains the purpose on informing the public of the ASA, but our main intended audience is young people, so we need to consider styles, language, place, position, design, etc.

Our TV advert idea for the ASA is mainly having a celebrity to endorse the company. This celebrity needs to be well-known and recognised by the target audience, but must have a good reputation to help uphold the values of the company.

An example of a celebrity would be a good character from Hollyoaks (as it is a teenage soap) or a reputable presenter e.g. Dermot from X-factor or Barney from Blue Peter. Another good celebrity to use may be Adam Deacon, as he is known as the "voice of the youth", but he may cause criticisms due to his entertainment history.

The celebrity would provide the information by directly talking to the audience in a "slang/informal" method to help relate to the audience as well as create a comedic theme to the audience for engagement.

The colours that are to be used are street/urban colours like browns, red, blue, greens but the logo and information scattered in the advert are to be of the corporate red colour to help represent the company. The font that this information will be shown will be in graffiti writing, but it will be basic/clear graffiti as it may create struggle to read it.

The advert will also include contact details of the company as well as the use of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to help use the same medium of communication for the youth generation.

Bibliography

http://ec2-50-19-110-145.compute-1.amazonaws.com/read/thelady/29-june-2012-31774/81/3/ (04/12/2012)

ASA & CAP - remit

Introduction

In this blog post, I am going to look at the advertising regulatory companies (The CAP and ASA) which help to monitor and set standards of advertising material.

CAP (Committee of Advertising Practice)

The CAP (Committee of Advertising Practice) is the organisation which creates the rules and regulations of advertising (The UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (CAP Code), in which the ASA regulate their standards by.

"responsible for writing and maintaining the UK Advertising Codes and providing authoritative advice on the rules"

Reflecting on the CAP logo, it is very simple and to the point by the "tick" which portrays a message that the company is correct, up to standards and verified in terms of the service they offer to the audience, which is to create guidelines on the use of media within the UK.

Also, I think that the use of the colour blue has been used to portray importance as the company plays a very big role in the advertising industry and it is influential. Also the colour blue gives off a psychological meaning of being trustworthy and high maintenance/status, as related to the colour of "royal blue".



ASA (Advertising Standards Authority)

The ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) is a regulatory body which which governs the media within the UK and offers a service to the public which allows viewers to complain about any issues which may have affected them in media products within their remit (products/services they offer according to their regulatory standards/restrictions)

The ASA's remit applies to products such as;

• Magazines and newspapers
• Radio and TV
• Television shopping channels
• Posters
• Cinema
• Direct Mail (advertising sent through the post and addressed to you personally)
• Internet (including a company's own marketing on its own website, social networking page, as well as in paid-for space)
• leaflets and brochures
• commercial email and mobile message
• CD ROMs, DVDs, videos and faxes
• Sales promotions (special offers, prize draws and competitions).

Reflecting upon the ASA logo, it has the same lettering, logo shape, etc as the CAP, but it's tick is in a different colour. This is to represent that the two companies work together in maintaining the regulating body for advertising and media.

The colour choice of red for the ASA gives off a warning or danger sign, which relates to the service they offer as they ensure danger is identified and removed from air. Also the color red symbolizes the stop sign in traffic lights, which shows that they stop danger from being shown on air through media products.

According to research and stats recorded by the ASA, the top 10 reasons as to why viewers complain are;

• misleading information (based on price, before and after shots, editing, statistics, post-production techniques, etc)
• depiction of women
• depiction of men
• depiction of animals
• depiction of children
• sex
• religion
• language
• race
• disability

When advertisers try to portray a message to it's audience, it tries to use stereotypical (not based on reality/cliche) thoughts and ideology, e.g. "all blonde women are dumb", which may cause offense to some members of the public, in which they can take action upon the advert.

But not all members of the public are the same. Some opinions are subjective which means that it depends on the viewer and advertisers point of view on what they think of it and what message they are trying to portray. This is why when the ASA investigate a complaint, they carry out a process which investigates the matter and allows the company of the advert to appeal their point as to why the advert is not offensive/harmful - out of advertising regulations.

Looking at examples (Paddy Power plc - July 2010)

The advert

A TV ad for a bookmaker showed a game of football being played by two teams of blindfolded men, using a ball with a bell inside it.  The ad opened with a shot of a kitbag marked “Blind Wanderers FC”, then showed the players mid-game.  One player kicked the ball off the pitch but then a cat, wearing a bell on its collar, ran onto the pitch, with its bell ringing.

The referee was about to blow his whistle, when one of the men was shown taking a kick. There was a thud and loud meow, although no contact between the player and the cat was shown on screen.  A man in a suit appeared on the pitch, patted the shoulder of the player who had taken the kick and said: “Paddy Power can’t get Tiddles back, there’s nothing we can do about that, but we can get you your money back with our money-back specials” and handed the player some bank notes.

There was a shot of the cat walking along the branch of a tree, meowing.  The final voice-over said: “Check ’em out before you bet at Paddy Power ...” and the player taking the kick was shown again, in slow motion, and a faint meow was again heard in the background.


Issue
1,089 viewers objected to this ad.

220 viewers objected that the ad was offensive to blind people

1,070 viewers objected that the ad was offensive and harmful, because it might encourage or condone cruelty to animals.

Final action/decision taken

The ASA said it was not offensive in itself to create an advert referring to people with a disability.

Paddy Power said it featured an action “so unlikely that it was absurd”. Paddy Power said the advert did not show the cat being kicked or suffering any violence or cruelty.  It was clearly and deliberately shown to be unharmed at the end of the item.

Paddy Power had chosen a blind football match to promote a lesser-known sport – the World Blind Football Championships were going to take place in 2010. Paddy Power produced a letter of support from the manager of the England Blind Football Team. All the players in the ad were actual blind football players, many of whom had represented the national side.

The ASA’s final decision was: 

1. The action in the ad would be interpreted by most viewers as a humorous depiction of a fictional situation, with the humour derived from surreal and improbable circumstances, when an unforeseeable and accidental

action occurred.

2. It was unlikely to be seen by most viewers as malicious or implying that blind people were likely to cause harm to animals whilst playing football.

3. The ad was unlikely to be seen as humiliating, stigmatizing or undermining to blind people and was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence

My reflection
I personally agree with the decision and comments made by the ASA, as the advert did not target or stereotype the blind disability with any comments/actions which may offend them.

The purpose of the advert was trying to explain to the viewers on not making any irrational choices on betting by going in with a "blind eye" (not exploring all concepts), so what better way is to include people with a blindness, but make the positive out of a negative aspect by creating a sport (which the company uses to make odds).

Another point towards my view is that the advert did not physically show any harm to the animal, so I feel there was no blatant animal cruelty. That was the main aspect which caused many complaints was the "animal cruelty" part of the cat being kicked. So to ensure that the audience were satisfied by the advert, they should have removed and replaced the scene with the cat and put in a different, more friendly joke to help get a comedic and memorable reaction from the audience.

Also the advert show in the end that the cat seemed perfectly fine, so there was no harm towards the animal. All the company tried to do was add in some humour into the service they are promoting, and they ensured that at the end of the advert, all of the tension/equilibrium was maintained by the cat being okay.

Finally, as the advert had used a real blind football team, in which they were not offended by to produce this advert, I feel it should not affect any other member of the public if they see no harm towards themselves personally.

Bibliography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising_Standards_Authority_(United_Kingdom) (03/12/2012)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_CAP_Code (03/12/2012)

http://www.asa.org.uk/ (03/12/2012)

http://www.cap.org.uk/ (03/12/2012)

http://www.asa.org.uk/~/media/Files/ASA/Adcheck/ASA-AdCheck_BQ1%20(2).ashx (03/12/2012)