A UK based mobile content seller has had a complaint about its advertising campaign upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority. The National Autistic Society objected to an advertisement, that appeared in FourFourTwo magazine, for mobile phone logos and wallpapers.
One of the wallpapers showed an image of the actor Dustin Hoffman from the film 'Rainman', in which he played a man with autism. The caption "RETARD" was stamped across the picture. The complainants objected that the advertisement was offensive to people with autism, their carers and families, and said it would reinforce negative stereotypes and pejorative attitudes towards people with autism.
The advertisers, Onetoo which trades under the Xmob brand, said the image had been removed and would not be used again. They said the image had been adapted from a T-shirt design created by a popular skateboard brand and that it was intended to be humorous. They said they had not intended to cause distress or offence. The publishers said they would ensure that similar images did not appear in their magazine in future. The Authority noted the advertisers comments, but considered that the image was likely to cause serious and widespread offence amongst people with autism, their carers and their families.
This is the fourth complaint against Onetoo in less than a year."
Posted to the site on 25th March 2004
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