Financial Institutions

The advertisement stated the following:

“N26 The first bank you’ll love. The Mobile Bank

#nobullshit

Open your free bank account N26.com”

Two complaints were received about the advertising. The complainants considered the reference to ‘bullshit’ to be offensive and unnecessary.

The advertisers said the addressee of their #nobullshit message was not the consumer of the advertising itself – but outdated banking systems. They said the campaign had been very well received by the audience, as they had seen in social media last summer. They said that from now on, they would adhere to the requirements of the Code of Standards for Advertising and Marketing Communications in Ireland. They said that since November 2018 they were running their new #26reasons campaign in Ireland.

Complaints Upheld.

The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaint and the advertisers’ response. They noted that the campaign in question had ended and the advertisers’ willingness to adhere to the requirements of the ASAI Code.

The Complaints Committee noted the requirements of the Code that marketing communications should be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and society and that they should not use offensive or provocative copy or images merely to attract attention.

The Committee considered that the impact of words in an advertisement could be influenced by the media used and did not consider that the use of word ‘bullshit’ had been acceptable for out-of-home advertising in this case. In the circumstances the Complaints Committee upheld the complaints under sections 3.3 and 3.20 of the Code



ACTION REQUIRED:
As the advertisement was no longer running, no further action in this case was required.