BT adverts cleared by ASA

Two BT television adverts have been cleared by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

One advert, for BT’s business customer 24.7 IT and communications support, shows gremlins chewing through office cables and causing mayhem in a late night office.

The other one sees a mother express concerns that her daughter’s secretive internet use could mean she is becoming a geek. It was advertising the benefits of BT’s parental control software.

Both adverts were cleared despite attracting 32 complaints from viewers.

While the first was thought to be shown too early to be suitable for younger viewers, it was claimed that the second could encourage parents to allow children to browse the web unsupervised.

However, the ASA investigation found that neither the adverts had breached any regulations.

The Swarm advertising agency, speaking on behalf of BT, claimed that the gremlin advert was scheduled to specifically avoid programmes targeted at children.

It also noted that the gremlin’s behaviour was more comedic than threatening.