Day 050 - 10 Nov 94 - Page 08
1
2 Q. -- their parents? But the spirit behind that particular
3 letter of the Code is that that kind of approach by
4 children to parents is to be discouraged -- is that
5 correct -- it is not to be encouraged?
6 A. Not to be encouraged in the film itself, in the
7 commercial itself.
8
9 Q. Specifically?
10 A. Yes.
11
12 Q. But if people, for example, were worried about exhortation,
13 they might write to the ITC and say: "Oh, this ad is, you
14 know, my child is always bothering me because he has seen
15 this ad five times. He has demanded I buy Power Rangers",
16 or something, whatever it is that kids want these days,
17 "and you should not be showing this ad"?
18 A. Yes, they might say something like that.
19
20 Q. If it was not actually specifically said in the
21 ad: "Mummy, please buy me Power Rangers", the complaint
22 would be unsuccessful, is that correct -- sorry, would be
23 not validated?
24 A. Yes. I think that is probably the case, though the ITC
25 certainly looks sympathetically at any complaints, and they
26 might decide that although the specific words do not appear
27 in the commercial, or the specific action, nevertheless it
28 is going rather far in that direction. So they might
29 advise the advertiser to tone any implication down.
30
31 It would not necessarily be the case that the words had to
32 be there for the complaint to be successful. The ITC does
33 take, as I understand it, great note of any complaints
34 which they consider to be valid.
35
36 MR. MORRIS: But -----
37
38 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think your point is fairly clear. The mere
39 fact that a particular manufacturer or sales outlet
40 advertises strongly to children, who obviously do not have
41 money to buy the product themselves and, therefore, must go
42 to their parents to ask for it if they are to have it and,
43 thereby, respond to the advertising, would not be in
44 breach -- whether it should be or not is another matter --
45 but would not be breach of the Code or any guidelines?
46 A. I think that is correct, my Lord. Obviously, the ITC
47 will look at individual films for individual advertisers
48 but, as a general rule, I think the way you have described
49 it is accurate.
50
51 MR. MORRIS: So, in fact, although the effect of an advert might
52 be the same as if exhortation is actually directly shown,
53 the ITC cannot really deal with the effects; they have to
54 deal with what is specifically shown?
55 A. Well, that is correct. The ITC cannot change human
56 nature, and, if children are going to ask their parents for
57 things, the ITC is powerless to alter that.
58
59 MR. MORRIS: It could, for example, outlaw advertising directed
60 to children during children's programming time, which has
