Search results : 306

On 30 November 2016, the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) issued its decision concerning a television alcohol advertisement featuring a mixed martial arts (MMA) star. The decision sets out the ASAI’s approach to determining whether a sports star may be considered to have “hero/heroine of the young status”. The advertisement for Budweiser beer featured MMA champion Conor McGregor, walking through a Dublin housing estate, with a voice over “Dream as big as you dare”, and accompanied by the Budweiser logo. The advertisement included the text “Dream Big - Enter at BudDreamBig.ie, ROI...

On 21 December 2016, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) upheld a complaint concerning an interview on abortion, broadcast by the public service broadcaster RTÉ. The programme concerned a June 2016 edition of The Ray D’Arcy Show, a lifestyle and entertainment programme broadcast on weekday afternoons on RTÉ Radio 1. Notably, the BAI issued a Warning Notice to RTÉ as this was the “third occasion” on which complaints had been upheld concerning the programme’s coverage of abortion (see IRIS 2016-7/22, IRIS 2016-2/14 and IRIS 2014-2/23). The programme featured an interview with a couple on...

On 21 December 2016, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) held that a prank call made by a broadcaster to a state agency employee violated Principle 7 of the BAI Code of Programme Standards on respect for privacy. The programme concerned was the Nick Richards Show, which is a music-driven show broadcast on weekday mornings. During a July 2016 broadcast, a prank call was made to an employee of the State Examinations Commission (SEC) by a member of the show, as part of a pre-recorded daily comedy spot featuring prank calls. The call usually ends with the presenter revealing the prank nature...

The Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) has upheld a number of complaints regarding an advertisement that was part of (Coca Cola) Sprite’s “#BrutallyRefreshing” campaign. The advert appeared on two Irish websites, Joe.ie, a men’s lifestyle website, and WaterfordWhispers, a popular Irish satirical news website. The ASAI received ten complaints in relation to the campaign. The advert featured bottles of Sprite Zero and regular Sprite alongside the following captions; “she’s seen more ceilings… than Michelangelo” “you’re not popular…you’re easy” “a 2 at 10 is a 10 at 2”. All of the complainants...

The Compliance Committee of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) has held that the broadcaster FM 104 violated a number of broadcasting rules during a live phone-in programme which featured a discussion on the issue of “special needs children and their exclusion from summer camps.” A complaint had been made over a July 2016 broadcast on “The FM 104 Phone Show” that is broadcast each weekday night and covers a wide range of topics. The complainant claimed inter alia that the broadcasting comments by one caller who referred to an autistic child as “having no mind of their own; not being ‘all...