Currys’ ‘misleading and socially irresponsible’ electric scooter ad banned
An advert from Currys promoting electric scooters has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
The electrical goods retailer’s pre-roll YouTube ad from October last year was deemed to have shown the e-scooters being ridden in public places, in violation of a mandate from the Department for Transport for all ’powered transporters’ to be used on private land only.
Currys insisted that it had complied with the rules, with filming having taken place on a private track inside a velopark and not a public road as claimed. The retailer also pointed to on-screen small print informing viewers that it was their responsibility to ride on private land only with the landowner’s permission.
Discounting this defense, the ASA took a dim view of the chosen urban setting, believing that the presence of cranes, high-rise buildings and streetlamps would cause audiences to infer they were looking at a public park.
Explaining its assessment, the ASA wrote: ”We considered that although no other people were shown, consumers were likely to infer the setting was a public park, rather than private land. Because the overall impression of the ad was that it was legal to use the electric scooters in places other than on private land when that was not the case, we concluded the ad was misleading and socially irresponsible.”
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