No excuse: but are regulators at odds?

A regional press ad raising public awareness of a domestic abuse helpline banned by the Advertising Standards Association for making misleading claims is being allowed to continue running on TV and in cinemas by the ITC, highlighting regulatory inconsistencies in UK media.
The regional press ad for the Scottish Executive's Zero Tolerance campaign makes the claim that "One in five women in Scotland live with the constant threat of domestic abuse."
However, an investigation by the ASA found that while the quoted statistic came from the Scottish Crime Survey 2000, which surveyed a total of 5,000 women between the ages of 16-59, it found that while one in five women had experienced threats during their life, they did not live in 'constant threat' of abuse as the ad suggested.
Barkers, which created the ad, has been instructed to change the statistic if it is to continue running in the press, however, after an investigation by the Independent Television Commission it was deemed unnecessary to change the broadcast ad because although the claim remained inaccurate the information relating to the product being advertised, in this case the abuse helpline, was factually correct.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Executive said: "Both the BACC and ITC have passed the television and cinema ads. The press ads have been running since 1998. A complaint had been lodged with the ASA saying it was biassed towards women, but that complaint was thrown out.
"However, the ASA took exception to the 'one woman in five live in the constant threat...' line. The ASA themselves didn't like it, it wasn't a complaint from the public."
The Scottish Executive is now planning to change the copy in the regional press ad to read: "One in five women in Scotland have experienced domestic abuse', However, it is not being forced to change the claims made in the TV and cinema ad.
The ITC declined to comment on the issue.