Smoking advert complaints rejected

falling out of their mouths may be "graphic and distasteful" but is "unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence", the advertising watchdog has said.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) rejected 11 complaints over the content of the adverts which targeted smokers in the East and West Midlands areas with the highest number of consumers of illicit tobacco products.
The ASA said: "Although the leaflet's imagery was unpleasant, we were of the view that because it was targeted at adult smokers, any distress or disgust caused was less likely to be disproportionate to the risk of the recipient consuming illicit tobacco and the hard-hitting approach was more likely to be considered justified by the target audience."
The posters and leaflet, produced by the East & West Midlands Regional Tobacco Group (EWMRTG), highlighted the dangers of smoking with images of a shocked man smoking a cigarette with maggots, a rat's back legs and tail, and bugs in his mouth, along with the warning: "Dodgy cigs may contain rodent droppings, bugs and dirt."
The ASA did not uphold the complaints, saying the posters were suitable for public display.
"We considered that although the posters' imagery was likely to be seen as graphic and distasteful, it was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence, especially because of the serious message it carried: the danger of illicit tobacco and the need to give up smoking," the ASA said.
"We considered that some children were initially likely to find the strong images unsettling, but because they merely showed shock and surprise on the faces of the smokers and did not depict the infliction of pain and showed tasteless but not violent images, children were unlikely to find them distressing."
The adverts were designed "to stand out and be memorable, with a message that was very quickly understood", the EWMRTG told the ASA.
The imagery was bold, unappealing and unpleasant to look at, but would make people think twice about buying illegal cigarettes and was not offensive, disturbing or disproportionate to the adverts' aims, the EWMRTG said.
It added they were designed to have an "emotive effect" on the consumer and were hard-hitting as they sought to raise awareness of a serious health issue.