Day 050 - 10 Nov 94 - Page 10
1 identifying, recognising in its Code, but, obviously, they
2 have not directly transgressed the actual letter of the
3 Code?
4 A. That could be the case. I agree with your word "may".
5 But my knowledge of the complaints system and the kind of
6 complaints that are made makes me believe that that is not,
7 in fact, correct.
8
9 I do not want to get into examples, but I am happy to do so
10 if you want me to.
11
12 Many of the comments which are described as a complaint to
13 the ITC are on a specific point in a commercial, which the
14 ITC will say: "You are perfectly entitled to that opinion,
15 but you must not assume that everybody agrees with you."
16
17 MS. STEEL: You mentioned, when you were giving
18 evidence-in-chief, that the ITC issues a report on the
19 complaints they have received?
20 A. Yes.
21
22 Q. A report on the complaints they have adjudicated on. Does
23 that include details of every single report that is
24 received?
25 A. No.
26
27 Q. No. So are you really in a position to say what all those
28 complaints are about?
29 A. I would certainly not suggest that I know what all of
30 them are about, but there is quite a lot of reporting at
31 the Advertising Advisory Committee, on which I sit, about
32 the nature of the complaints, not only those upheld but
33 those not upheld. Quite often, at a meeting of the
34 Advertising Advisory Committee, a reel of commercials will
35 be shown; the nature of some comments of the public or
36 complaints of the public will be discussed, and the
37 Advertising Advisory Committee will give its views on
38 whether there was something there that needed more
39 attention, that there was a point which should have been
40 upheld, whether or not there is something which needs
41 modification in the Code or in its interpretation for the
42 future.
43
44 So I have been over a lot of that ground over a period of
45 years, and I can say with certainty that the great majority
46 of the complaints that are not upheld cover points of
47 opinion, subjective views, which really have very little to
48 do with the codes.
49
50 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Can you just give an example of that? I was
51 thinking of asking a moment or two ago whether a lot of the
52 complaints of people who have a bee in their bonnet about
53 something, not necessarily something of public interest,
54 like whether you should advertise to children at all or
55 whether you should advertise a certain kind of product to
56 children at all, but typical examples of typical English
57 eccentricity -- if I can describe it that way?
58 A. I am not sure they are all eccentricity, but one gets
59 complaints that people do not like the music in a
60 commercial or they think the music is too loud, or they do
