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Posted: 14th February 2013

Christmas pudding advert escapes censure
Image: James Peek
BVA "disappointed" by ASA ruling

The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) announced yesterday that they would not be disciplining supermarket chain Morrisons over their 2012 Christmas advert. The TV advert provoked 234 complaints, largely from vets and VNs, after it depicted a child feeding a dog potentially toxic raisin-filled Christmas pudding.

At the time of the advert the BVA issued a statement and wrote to Morrisons asking them to withdraw the advert. Commenting on the decision, president Peter Jones said: "This ruling is disappointing but the ASA has set out its reasons for the decision and we accept those reasons.

"Thankfully the advert only had a short shelf life and we hope Morrisons is now very unlikely to make the same mistakes again. Overall, we hope the whole incident has served to educate Morrisons and the general public about the dangers of grapes and raisins to dogs."

The ruling stated: "The ASA agreed the ad depicted the circumstance of a dog being fed Christmas pudding in an unfavourable light: the boy passed the pudding to the dog in a surreptitious manner, and the dog then did not eat the slice of Christmas pudding.

"The voiceover also emphasised that 'not everyone loves traditional Christmas pud.' We considered it was clear that, in feeding the dog, the boy was doing something he was not supposed to, and it was also clear the dog had rejected the pudding. We considered it was unlikely that viewers, including children, would interpret it to mean that dogs liked Christmas pudding or that it was appropriate to feed Christmas pudding to dogs."

The statement concluded: "While we noted the complainants' concerns that dog owners might not be aware of the possible toxicity of grapes and raisins, and other foods, to dogs, we considered that dog owners would be aware they should not feed their dog foods that did not form part of a standard canine diet, and that it was the responsibility of parents to educate their children they should not feed unsuitable food to dogs."



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