The Advertising Code Committee has reprimanded insurer Achmea for a commercial about the danger of fireworks and the annual number of fireworks victims. The Commission considers the commercial to be misleading. The insurer should no longer broadcast the commercial, is the recommendation.
The case was brought by the Fireworks Lovers Association. The interest group spoke of a “fact-free smear campaign” that would be aimed at the fireworks tradition.
Grief, national outrage and action
In the commercial, which has been set up as a news bulletin, a number of figures about firework victims and firework damage are listed. The insurer speaks, among other things, of 1200 people who were injured by fireworks, including almost 400 children. More than 500 people are also said to have suffered burns and more than 300 serious eye injuries.
On any day of the year, this news would lead to “sadness, national outcry and action,” said a voiceover. “Only on December 31 do we call this tradition”, it is said. The insurer then calls on you not to set off fireworks yourself, but to go to a fireworks show.
With the ad, Achmea wanted people to think about the fireworks tradition in general and not only to highlight the negative consequences of setting off fireworks yourself. But the committee judges that the average viewer will get that last message out. The advertising is therefore unclear, according to the committee.
Object
The advertisement has been shown on television and the internet in recent weeks. The fireworks industry reacted indignantly to the commercial and approached the Advertising Code Committee. The commercial has not been shown since November 23, but Het Vuurwerk Lovers Association says that his complaint was filed before that date.
Achmea can still appeal against the ruling.
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