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The Charity Ad They Don’t Want You To See, Which Means You Probably Should
This ad has been banned from Irish television and radio because it is ‘Political’. Under Irish legislation (Radio and Television Act 1988, s.10(3)):
No advertisement shall be broadcast which is directed towards any religious or political end or which has any relation to an industrial dispute.
According to the Irish Independent (reg. reqd.), the Commission appently believe that the ad encourages political action by including the Trocaire website address:
The BCI appears to believe that because our website address is in the ad, we are directing people to take political action
The above mentioned legislation does not cover the Internet however (more useful on-line disruption of off-line life), and the ad is quickly going viral in a textbook example of using the web to circumvent ill-conceived State regulation.
Has it only been banned recently? I’m fairly certain that I’ve seen this ad on TV.
Comment by Niall — March 8, 2007 @ 12:44 pm
Don’t think it’s banned on RTE television yet..
Comment by johnmryan — March 8, 2007 @ 1:42 pm
I was listening on the radio the other morning when I got back to Ireland and hadn’t got a clue what this was all about. There was uproar.
I saw it over on Damiens blog.
This is a SUPER example of the democracy of the online community as whole.
Back in the day, when you heard something was banned and you didn’t see it, tough. Now it’s gone viral and I’m sure Trocaire are delighted. The campaign is probably doing much better then they could have hoped for.
Comment by Dave Davis — March 8, 2007 @ 5:23 pm
Actually I think it’s doing as well as Trocaire hoped for. When they added the sting at the end, pointing you at a website to sign a petition, they knew the ad would be judged political by the BCI. They had the Barnardos case as a recent memory and plenty pf past precident. And, of course, RTE is not under the control of the BCI, so the ad is still getting exposure on the main medium it was built for, regardless of the BCI.
What Trociare missed is that they don’t appear to have considered viral issues when releasing the ad. Organisations like Amnesty take it as granted that an ad has to have viral properties when commencing a new campaign. Trocaire – and the other Irish charities – need to wise up to the new realities.
The question that needs to be asked by people who seem to be offended by the BCI’s stance on this issue is this: should commerical radio and TV statiosn be allowed air political advertisements? Because that the is the issue at stake here.
Comment by fmk — March 8, 2007 @ 5:40 pm
Hi fmk,
Not sure what you mean by considering “viral issues” when releasing the ad.
Do you mean that the ad should have been designed to appeal to 14-year-old male Internet d00ds?
Given the topic, that would be a trifle odd, don’t you think?
Comment by Kevin Jardine — March 9, 2007 @ 3:22 pm
By viral issues I mean made easy for others to send / seed around the internet. And it appears I was in error and Trocaire have got with the programme – http://www.lent.ie/
Comment by fmk — March 9, 2007 @ 5:48 pm
Ah my apology, I misunderstood.
Trocaire put the video up on YouTube even before it was linked from its own site so far as I know, and YouTube has a good set of tell-your-friends tools.
But as you mention, they’ve also made it available for download here:
http://www.lent.ie/News/trocaire-lent-tv-and-radio.php
and have an e-card to promote the petition here:
http://apps.trocaire.org/justworld/mod/trocaire/ecard.php
Comment by Kevin Jardine — March 9, 2007 @ 5:53 pm
And now it would appear that Trocaire have agreed with the BCI to issue a less polital edit of the ad. Jesus, but they really do seem like a cynical and manipulative bunch of creeps. As well as being hyopcrites.
Comment by fmk — March 9, 2007 @ 6:09 pm
Fucking ridiclious ad. Ahh, it makes me sick to listen to this shit.
Disguisting to swoop to this level.
Comment by Cormac — March 11, 2007 @ 5:27 pm
[...] Update (11 March 2007): The debate rumbles along. Have a look, for example, at the discussions on boards.ie and indymedia ireland, to say nothing of the expanding outrage in the blogoshpere (eg Daniel K Sullivan | Politics in Ireland | Political Quote | Red Cardinal) as well as ciNews, picked up by the Holy Spirit Parish in Greenhills, Dublin. There has also been quite a bit of newspaper commentary: Unattributed in the online version of the Irish Times: Trócaire agrees to revise Lenten advert Patsy McGarry in the Irish Times: Trócaire’s young girl without a chance lives far closer to home Breda O’Brien in the Irish Times: Not so fragile that ads need to be banned Frank Khan in the Irish Independent: Aid group campaign goes on as disputed ad revised Unattributed in the online version of the Irish Independent: Trocaire should have freedom of expression, even if they’re wrong Emer O’Kelly in the Sunday Independent: Trendy Trocaire can’t be put above the rules Ann Marie Hourihane in the Sunday Tribune: Trócaire turns being female into a ticking time bomb [...]
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