Viewers were misled by a Scottish Power ad featuring George Clarke, due to its similarity to his TV show, “Amazing Spaces.” The ASA banned it immediately.
Next, the ad showed houses of different colors. He then talked about “greener houses” like one shown, adding it’s about green power from Scottish Power. He suggested making your space greener with their help.
For the first twelve seconds, the ad had “#ad” in the corner. Some viewers complained about the commercial, feeling it looked too much like his TV show.
Scottish Power thought their ad was obviously an ad. They said it mentioned their products and logo, and Clarke mentioned them, too. Almost all of it had visual cues it was an ad.
The ad watchdog, ASA, looked into it. They said the ad aired near Clarke’s “Amazing Spaces” show, used the same font and green backgrounds, and looked too similar. The watchdog said “#ad” was not enough.
They thought viewers likely believed they were watching regular TV. The ASA said folks wouldn’t recognize it as an ad right away, and would think it’s part of the “Amazing Spaces” program.
Scottish Power said their ad matched what they aim to do, which is to help customers. They felt their partnership was effective.
