Media Law Prof Blog

Editor: Christine A. Corcos
Louisiana State Univ.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

No God? That's a Matter of Opinion--ASA

A number of British religious organizations, including Christian Voice, as well as members of the public, filed complaints with the Advertising Standards Authority, that the British Humanist Association's ad campaign "There's Probably No God" which has been running on those perky red London buses for several months violated the ASA's advertising code. But the ASA has dodged the bullet by deciding that such a sentiment is an expression of opinion and therefore falls under the definition of opinion.

The ASA Council concluded that the ad was an expression of the advertiser’s opinion and that the claims in it were not capable of objective substantiation.  Although the ASA acknowledges that the content of the ad would be at odds with the beliefs of many, it concluded that it was unlikely to mislead or to cause serious or widespread offence.

Read more here in a news release from the ASA.

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/media_law_prof_blog/2009/01/no-god-thats-a.html

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