ASA Adjudication on Nicofresh

An ad for e-cigarettes featured an elderly white woman and a young black man on a sofa; the man had his arm around the woman. The woman was holding an e-cigarette and the ad stated “No tobacco. No taboo.” In response to numerous complaints, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) investigated the ad and found that it was likely to cause offense on the grounds of race and age because it portrayed the relationship between the two individuals as something unusual or socially unacceptable. The ASA ordered the ad not to appear again in its current form.

ASA Adjudication on Nicofresh, Complaint Ref: A14-268557 (2014).

  • United Kingdom
  • Aug 6, 2014
  • Advertising Standards Authority
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Parties

Plaintiff Unidentified complainants

Defendant Nicofresh Ltd

Legislation Cited

Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP Code), Edition 12, Rule 4.1 (Harm and offence)

Related Documents

Type of Litigation

Tobacco Control Topics

Substantive Issues

Type of Tobacco Product

"The ASA considered that consumers were likely to interpret the ad to mean that, contrary to the relationship depicted, to smoke e-cigarettes was not a taboo issue. We noted the pronounced age gap between the man and woman, the fact they were a couple, and that the image was accompanied with the text "NO TOBACCO. NO TABOO". We considered that consumers would believe that the ad was presenting a relationship between an older and younger individual, particularly an older woman and a younger man, and a couple of different races, as something that was unusual or socially unacceptable. Because of that, we concluded that the ad was likely to cause serious or widespread offence on the grounds of race and age."