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).
Limitations regarding the use of quotes The quotes provided here reflect statements from a specific decision. Accordingly, the International Legal Consortium (ILC) cannot guarantee that an appellate court has not reversed a lower court decision which may influence the applicability or influence of a given quote. All quotes have been selected based on the subjective evaluations undertaken by the ILC meaning that quotes provided here may not accurately or comprehensively represent a given court’s opinion or conclusion, as such quotes may have originally appeared alongside other negative opinions or accompanying facts. Further, some quotes are derived from unofficial English translations, which may alter their original meaning. We emphasize the need to review the original decision and related decisions before authoritatively relying on quotes. Using quotes provided here should not be construed as legal advice and is not intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter in any jurisdiction. Please see the full limitations at https://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/about.
"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."
Limitations regarding the use of quotes The quotes provided here reflect statements from a specific decision. Accordingly, the International Legal Consortium (ILC) cannot guarantee that an appellate court has not reversed a lower court decision which may influence the applicability or influence of a given quote. All quotes have been selected based on the subjective evaluations undertaken by the ILC meaning that quotes provided here may not accurately or comprehensively represent a given court’s opinion or conclusion, as such quotes may have originally appeared alongside other negative opinions or accompanying facts. Further, some quotes are derived from unofficial English translations, which may alter their original meaning. We emphasize the need to review the original decision and related decisions before authoritatively relying on quotes. Using quotes provided here should not be construed as legal advice and is not intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter in any jurisdiction. Please see the full limitations at https://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/about.
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.