Despite not having the power to ban a controversial advertising billboard and the Olympics having passed, the Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) has called on the industry not to display “Ban Israel from the Olympics” billboards on grounds that the advertiser is not clearly identified.
The ARB’s directorate received a consumer complaint against a billboard found to have been published by human rights organisation #Africa4Palestine, though this is not declared on the advert.
The complainant was offended by billboards it had posted as part of a worldwide campaign to kick Israel out of international sport. The Olympic ban boards feature a red triangle, symbolic of Palestinian resistance to Israel. The design includes the five interlocking rings that feature in the Olympic logo, with an Israeli flag with a red diagonal stripe over it inside the red circle.
“[The billboard] calls for the ban on a sovereign country because they are mainly Jewish, and they are fighting back in a war thrust upon them. It is hate speech; it incites violence and is despicable,” stated the complaint.
The ARB tried to solicit a response from #Africa4Palestine but received none.
In applying the Code of Advertising Practice, the directorate considered clauses relating to controversial subjects and advocacy advertising relevant to the dispute. These hold that regarding any advert expressing an opinion on a controversy and involves issues within public policy and practice, such opinions fall outside of the ARB’s jurisdiction.
However, the regulator is entitled to police the issue in the sense of ensuring that all adverts containing controversial statements must be readily recognisable as advertisements and there must be no confusion as to the identity or status of the advertiser.
“In the spirit of free and fair speech, this clause seeks to limit the directorate’s considerations to claims capable of objective interpretation, without getting dragged into controversial and emotive social discourse ... which is why the ARB Code expressly precludes the directorate from weighing in on such matters, as doing so would run contrary to its intention and purpose,” said the directorate.
There is no indication on the material of who the advertiser is, and there are no contact details provided as required by the code, which robs consumers of the opportunity to engage with the advertising or the advertiser in any meaningful manner
— Advertising Regulatory Board directorate
“There can be no dispute that the protracted war between Israel and Palestine is a controversial and emotive issue. It is therefore not surprising that people hold strong views and opinions over who they perceive to be the aggressor and who they perceive to be retaliating or what they believe would end the bloodshed. This means that the directorate is not empowered to express a view on this matter insofar as the content and likely interpretation of, or impact on reasonable viewers would be.”
However, the ARB is empowered to uphold the requirement that the material is clearly identifiable as advertising and clearly indicates who the advertiser is, or at least carries the advertiser’s contact details.
“These measures are intended to allow consumers the opportunity to identify the advertiser responsible for such advertising, familiarise themselves with the advertiser’s values, objectives or affiliations, and determine whether they correlate with those of the viewer. Doing so allows a reasonable consumer to determine the extent to which he or she chooses to align themselves with the advertiser’s position or to what extent they choose to disassociate themselves without impeding on the advertiser’s right to free speech within the confines of the South African constitution,” the directorate said.
“It also allows anyone with strong views to contact the advertiser, should they choose to do so. In this instance, there is no indication on the material of who the advertiser is, and there are no contact details provided as required by the code, which robs consumers of the opportunity to engage with the advertising or the advertiser in any meaningful manner.”
In finding the billboard to be in contravention of the advertising code, the ARB instructed members not to accept the billboard “in its current form without clear identification of the advertiser or clear and current contact information for the advertiser”.
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