New Decisions: Political ads, electric vehicles and more

The following decisions have been published:

• Complaint 19/417 Circa Theatre, Poster, Not Upheld
• Complaint 20/006 Beam Suntory, Effen Vodka, Billboard, Settled
• Complaint 20/017 Griffins, Television, Not Upheld
• Complaint 20/020 Garage Project, Packaging, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/022 Roadshow, Television, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/023 Right to Life, Billboard, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/024 Bluebell NZ, Digital Marketing, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/026 The Bradford Exchange, Unaddressed Mail, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/028 Great Moscow Circus, Poster, Not Upheld
• Complaint 20/029 Burger King, Digital Marketing, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/031 Scotty’s Electrical Service, Out of Home, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/032 Stuff, Print, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/034 Bio Energetic Medicine, Out of Home, Settled
• Complaint 20/036 ACT New Zealand, Digital Marketing, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/039 New Zealand National Party, Digital Marketing, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/040 New Zealand National Party, Digital Marketing, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/046 Imagine Rail Journeys, Print, Settled
• Complaint 20/047 Burger King, Television, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/048 Brand Developers, Television, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/049 GotInk, Radio, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/050 Contact Energy, Television, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/051 Spark, Television, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/053 Boohoo NZ, Television,  No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/054 Manuka Doctor, Print, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/055 Samsung New Zealand, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/061 NZ Transport Agency, Television, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/062 Mercury Energy, Digital Marketing, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/063 Proctor & Gamble, Television, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/064 The Book Depository, Radio, Settled
• Complaint 20/065 NZL National Party, Digital Marketing, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/066 Xero NZ, Television, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/073 Restaurant Brands, KFC, Television, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/076 Ingham’s, Digital Marketing, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/077 Poultry Industry Association of New Zealand, Digital Marketing, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/078 Restaurant Brands, Digital Marketing, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/081 Nandos NZ, Digital Marketing, No Grounds to Proceed
• Complaint 20/085 BurgerFuel, Digital Marketing, No Grounds to Proceed

Advocacy ad for ACT party didn’t breach Code
The ACT New Zealand Facebook advertisement stated “Labour wants to control what you say.” The supporting text said “Support ACT’s campaign for freedom of speech”. The advertisement also contained an authorisation statement.

The Complainant said the advertisement was misleading the public by claiming the Labour Party wanted to control freedom of speech and provided no sources to support this claim.

The Chair confirmed it an advocacy advertisement, which means robust expression of opinion is allowed, as long as the advertiser is clearly identified. The Chair noted that in a free and democratic society, differences of political opinion should be openly debated without undue hindrance or interference from authorities and in no way should political parties, politicians, lobby groups or advocates be unnecessarily fettered by a technical or unduly strict interpretation of the rules and regulations.

The Chair said the opinion statement did not reach the threshold to be likely to mislead or deceive consumers. The Chair ruled there were no grounds for the complaint to proceed.

Electric Vehicle Ad Not Misleading
The video advertisement for Mercury Energy which appeared on the NZ Herald website was set to the song “Kiss and Say Goodbye”. The ad showed people saying goodbye to their petrol fuelled vehicles and bypassing petrol stations in their electric driven cars. The text says “Kiss Oil Goodbye. Join the Electric Revolution.”

The Complainant said claiming that buying electric vehicles will halt the use of oil was misleading. They said that oil is used to manufacture most of the components of any car, electric vehicles included. They said a more accurate slogan would be “Kiss Petrol Goodbye“.

The Chair considered the consumer takeout of the advertisement was that electric vehicles do not need to use petrol, and this is the way of the future. The advertisement contained several shots of petrol pumps, which gave context for the  message about petrol powered vehicles versus electric vehicles. The Chair ruled there were no grounds for the complaint to proceed.