ASA looks into complaints about Tory poster

The Advertising Standards Authority is looking into complaints about the Conservatives' "demonic" advertisement using an image of Tony Blair. The industry watchdog had received "about half a dozen inquiries" from members of the public who felt the advert was offensive, ASA Director of Communications Caroline Crawford said.

The ASA will be considering if the poster breaches the British Code of Advertising and Sales Promotion which covers protection of privacy. Advertisers must obtain permission from people in the public eye, such as politicians, if they are to be portrayed in an advert in an "offensive or adverse" way. It will be up to the Tories' advertising agency M&C Saatchi, who devised the poster, to demonstrate that they have kept within the Code. If it finds that there has been a breach, the authority can effectively order the poster to be withdrawn.