The advertising censors at the ASA have received 456 complaints from parents complaining that retailer Littlewood’s festive TV campaign is upsetting children by revealing that Father Christmas doesn’t exist.
The ad features young children performing in a school Christmas play who sing about who has bought their presents. They join in a chorus singing that it is their mothers who have done all the shopping.
Most of the complainants said that they wanted the ad to be rescheduled to a later hour when children are in bed. Some parents went as far as to say that their children were distressed to find out that Father Christmas does not provide presents.
However the ASA decided:
After careful consideration ASA council has decided that, as the ad did not make reference to Father Christmas or suggest Father Christmas did not exist, it was unlikely to cause distress to children and therefore we won’t be launching an investigation.
Yes but if parents had told their kiddies that presents under the christmas tree were left by Santa then it gives the game away nevertheless.
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