Anti-Terror Ad banned

A radio advert urging people to dob in their neighbours has been banned.

A radio advert urging listeners to report suspected terrorists has been banned by a watchdog for potentially offending law-abiding people.

The anti-terrorist hotline ad lists “suspicious” behaviour to look out for from quiet neighbours such as paying by cash and keeping curtains drawn.

I guess this was similar to those poster campaigns that listed among others, photography as suspicious behaviour. I am reminded of the early days of the Gestapo, where almost identical behaviours were deemed suspicious and the population exhorted to report people to the authorities. And they did.

Has this ad been scrapped because it was the most repugnant piece of stasi-like behaviour? Has it been scrapped because it encouraged snooping and spying on perfectly innocent people?

No. It has been banned because it is offensive.

The Advertising Standards Authority ruled it could cause “serious offence”.

Well, yes, it is offensive, offensive because of what it seeks to do – to cause us all to suspect and report our neighbours for perfectly innocent behaviour, because it is indulging in the divide and rule philosophy. I am not offended by this advert, I am outraged and not specifically by the advertisement, but by the scum who commissioned it. This advert is not so much offensive as it is insidious wickedness.

Some 18 listeners who heard the advert, broadcast on Talksport, complained to the watchdog.

Of those, 10 said it could be offensive to law-abiding citizens, while the rest said it could encourage people to harass or victimise their neighbours and was appealing to people’s fear.

Those remaining eight people have got it right.

In the advert, a man says: “The man at the end of the street doesn’t talk to his neighbours much, because he likes to keep himself to himself.”

“He pays with cash because he doesn’t have a bank card, and he keeps his curtains closed because his house is on a bus route.”

It then says: “If you suspect it, report it.”

This is not, by any stretch of the fevered imagination, suspicious behaviour and what you should do is mind your own business, like that man at the end of the street, frankly. Indeed, this man at the end of the street is much like my erstwhile neighbours in Bristol. A bit like me, too. A bit like many of us. And ACPO want our nosy neighbours to report us for minding our own business so that the police can call round to investigate that which is none of their business on the basis of tittle-tattle, gossip and petty score settling.

The campaign by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) was aimed at promoting the confidential anti-terrorist hotline.

So, an unaccountable private business has been zapped by an unaccountable quango. There’s a delicious irony in there somewhere.

6 Comments

  1. Interesting. One of the copywriters had this to say on Twitter when told to be proud about the ad despite it being banned: Not really. Horrible stuff. But the client wanted something even worse originally.

  2. It’s no laughing matter I tell you. No laughing matter at all. Very serious indeed.
    In fact, I’ve noticed myself behaving in several quite suspicious ways recently, so I’m just popping down to hand myself in, just to be on the safe side.
    Can’t be too careful these days.
    It’s all for your own good y’know.

  3. @Maaarrghk! = nice to see responsible citizens still abound.

    I was surprised to hear the ad, one can only imagine the gloves are off!

  4. When the wall came down in Berlin opening up East Germany the people stormed the Stasi (Secret Police) Headquarters. Although the Stasi tried to destroy their records only a small percentage actually got destroyed.

    What the people found caused deep resentment that carries on today. The Stasi’s records showed that their neighbours (whom they thought of as friends) had been informing on them for years. The UK would be no different.

    As for the anti-terrorism propaganda … it is sheer circus. l could if l was so inclined (which l’m not neighbours, ok?) cause mayhem and destruction in the UK all by myself with no weapons at all. Yes, they’d eventually stop me but not before l had caused serious damage. Given that, how the hell do you stop someone who is ready to give up their lives as a terrorist? Wearing a bomb vest they set off for their targets. Much like WW2 air bombing raids, if you can’t reach your target, drop your bombs on another. So it is with suicide bombers. As l say, it’s sheer circus because if we were under attack the country would be devastated.

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