Barclays questions BBH after convicted paedophile appears in football ad campaign
Barclays is asking ad agency BBH London what went wrong after a convicted paedophile was featured in its ‘Thank You’ ad.
“We’re very grateful to The Sun for bringing this serious issue to our attention. We have asked the advertising agency that produced the film to explain to us what went wrong in their vetting process to allow this to happen, and we have also ordered that the advert be immediately recut to remove the individual from the footage before it is broadcast again,” a Barclays spokesman said.
The now pulled ad initially aired mid-August and features numerous scenes with real-life fans. It aimed to highlight the bank’s sponsorship of the Premier League.
However, The Sun reported yesterday that one of the fans has convictions for possessing child abuse images. 58-60 seconds into the spot he is seen wearing a football shirt and cheering on the right-hand-side of a young boy.
BBH London said that it had already edited the ad.
A statement from the agency read: "Usually when looking for talent to use in commercials we hire actors via casting agencies where full checks are employed. In this instance, to ensure authenticity, we recruited 400 real football fans for the crowd scenes alongside professional actors. After this was brought to our attention we immediately took the ad off air and have reedited it."
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Bartle Bogle Hegarty is a Global advertising agency. Founded in 1982 by British ad men John Bartle, Nigel Bogle, and John Hegarty, BBH has offices in London, New...
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