AN advert for an insurance firm has been banned for featuring a Harold Shipman joke.
The adverts were promoting insurance firm DeadHappy on Facebook and Instagram.
They were banned for causing widespread offence and distress.
The adverts featured images of Harold Shipman and the line: "Life insurance… because you never know who your doctor might be."
Harold killed between 215 and 260 of his patients while working as a GP in Hyde, Greater Manchester.
Although the former GP was convicted of only 15 murders.
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All died from lethal injections of diamorphine between 1995 and 1998.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 115 complaints from people upset with the content.
DeadHappy removed the ad the following day and has since apologised.
It said it was reviewing its creation processes and approval of adverts.
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It also said it would "endeavour to make better informed decisions going forward".
The ASA said the ads “trivialised and made light of the murders committed by Harold Shipman".
It added: "We concluded that the ads were not prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society and did not comply with rules on issues of harm and offence.
“We welcomed DeadHappy’s assurance that they would not be repeated.”
In a statement, Andy Knott, founder of DeadHappy, said: “We are sorry. In our attempt to be provocative and make people really stop and think about their need for life insurance, we have made a mistake and for this we apologise.
“We will now go away and immediately review all of our current and future marketing campaigns to ensure that we learn from this mistake.”
Adverts can be banned for various reasons.
It may be that they promote harm or that they are not being compliant and truthful.
Last year, a Brewdog ad was banned for claiming to be “one of your five a day”.
The craft giant made the comparison while promoting its beers including Lost in Guava and Hazy Jane Passionfruit.
In 2021, two British Gas TV ads were banned for suggesting customers can get emergency callouts at short notice – because some consumers claim to have been waiting months.
The ASA banned two TV ads, as well as a website advert and tweet by British Gas for its HomeCare Cover service.
Some 24 complaints were registered by British Gas HomeCare Service customers over the adverts.
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Of these, 21 customers said they had been waiting for up to three weeks for their emergency callout or were told one could not be provided.
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