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Advertising Standards Authority Facebook Donald Trump

Donald Trump makes false ASA claim on ‘do you want Alex Salmond to destroy Scotland?’ Facebook picture

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By Ishbel Macleod, PR and social media consultant

October 25, 2012 | 2 min read

The ASA has denied banning an ad which Donald Trump posted on his Facebook page on Friday 19 October with the comment: "I guess they don’t have freedom of the press in Scotland. We created this ad and the ASA would not allow us to publish it."

Trump added "I don’t know what is wrong with it, it seems factually accurate to me" beside the ad, which features a picture of Lockerbie bomber al-Megrahi beside a picture of First Minister Alex Salmond giving the thumbs up, under the strapline ‘Do you want Alex Salmond to destroy Scotland?’

The ad then goes on to describe Salmond as "the mind that backed the release of [the] terrorist", saying he is now "planning on destroying Scotland’s coastline…with these ugly, inefficient, bird-killing, Chinese-made turbines".

However, a spokesperson from the ASA told The Drum: “I can confirm that the ASA has not banned the ad that Donald Trump refers to.

“We don’t ban ads from appearing. We respond to concerns about ads once they’re in the public domain.

“The advertiser may have sought pre-publication advice on the likelihood of the ad being acceptable under the Advertising Code. This Copy Advice service is provided, for free and in confidence, by our sister organisation, the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP). We can’t comment on whether advice was sought or given as the service is confidential.

“However, I should stress that Copy Advice is exactly that, advice. It is non-binding and Copy Advice does not ‘ban’ ads either.”

Donald Trump’s office refused to comment over the phone when asked last night.

Advertising Standards Authority Facebook Donald Trump

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