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This advert, a complaint against which was thrown out by the Advertising Standards Authority of New Zealand, was part of a poster campaign designed to present Christianity in a "non-preachy or judgmental" way. The campaign, on behalf of the Christian group Godmarks, was based on the US "God Speaks" billboards, which attributed to the deity such messages as "Have you read my No.1 bestseller? (There will be a test)", and "Need a marriage counselor? I'm available." The Godmarks posters were created by the Auckland, New Zealand based agency Consortium. Other posters carried messages including "Isn't it weird how most people think I'm white?" and "I miss how you used to talk to me when you were a kid". Below is the adjudication of the ASANZ issuing from the complaint.
Adjudication of the Advertising Standards Authority of New Zealand:
Complaint:
The billboard advertisement said:
“Contrary to popular belief I
Don’t hate anyone who’s gay”
- God
Complainant, A. Miller, said the advertiser was not identified, and the advertisement was likely to cause serious and widespread offence in the light of generally prevailing community standards.
The Chairman noted Complainant, A. Miller’s, view. He clarified that LOOK was the name of the billboard company involved. Then, in making his ruling in relation to Rule 11, the Chairman took into account Decision 06/092 where the Complaints Board had Not Upheld a similar complaint, saying:
“The Complaints Board said that technically the advertisements were “advocacy” advertisements as they presented what could be regarded as an expression of opinion, as opposed to promoting the sale of a product or products."
It then took into account the wording in Rule 11 which said:
“The identity of an advertiser in matters of public interest or political issue should be clear.”
The Complaints Board then noted the Advertiser’s submission where it said that the advertisements were “not pushing a political or public issue”, and were essentially to brighten people’s day through the use of humour, purportedly that of God’s. The Complaints Board concurred with the Advertiser, that the advertisements could not be said to express “matters of public interest or political issue”.
In light of this, the Complaints Board was of the view that the requirement for identification in Rule 11, had not been intended to apply to advertisements of the nature before it.
The Complaints Board noted and endorsed the wording in Rule 11 which said:
“Expression of opinion in advocacy advertising is an essential and desirable part of the functioning of a democratic society.”
This, it said, was based on The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 where the right to Freedom of Expression was enshrined in the wording:
“Everyone has the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and opinions of any kind in any form.”
Having made the above observations, the Complaints Board said the advertisements in the matter before it did not require the advertiser to be identified and accordingly, they were not in breach of Rule 11.”
In his view this applied to the advertisement before him. Furthermore, the Chairman was of the view that the message on the billboard would not be likely to cause serious or widespread offence in the light of generally prevailing community standards and thereby did not reach the threshold to be in breach of the Advertising Codes.
The Chairman noted that the Complaints Board had previously been advised that the billboards were funded by donation from people who belonged to a number of different Christian denominations.
The Chairman ruled that there were no grounds for the complaint to proceed.
Decision:
No Grounds to Proceed
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