Lightercase Facebook ad hit by ASA for ‘condoning’ smoking
A sponsored Facebook advert by Lightercase which promoted it mobile phone case with an inbuilt cigarette lighter has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after the ad watchdog ruled in condoned smoking.
The ad, which featured a close-up image of a cigarette being lit and the text "Tag someone who can use this” was reported to the ASA by one complainant who felt it presented smoking in an appealing manner.
Lightercase denied that the advert did so and Facebook said the ad did not violate their advertising guidelines.
The ASA said that while the ad “neither explicitly encouraged non-smokers to start smoking nor existing smokers to continue”, the combination of the image of the lit cigarette and the encouragement to tag someone presented smoking in a positive light. Because of this the ASA felt the overall impression of the ad was that it normalised and condoned smoking.
It must not appear again in its current form.