Geeklawyer is a bit alarmed that the Advertising Standards self-Authority correctly decided that no2id's recent Guardian advert portraying Tony Bliar as Hitler was not an infringement of the ASA's Cap code clause 5.1 on decency.
The advert mocked the Dear Leader's love of labelling all citizens and gathering data on them, to enable fascistic state control, by giving him a barcode moustach with the tagline "ID cards have worked well in Europe before". Not excessively clever perhaps but entirely on the money. The ad was deliberately run during the New Labour annual rimming convention in Blackpool, which they call a party conference, to cause offence and embarrassment. It succeeded. Eight New Labour yes-men complained to the ASA on the grounds that portraying a public figure as Hitler was offensive and, one presumes, that the ad was excessively truthful. The ASA rejected the complaint by saying that the advert was intended to encourage discussion on an important topic and not likely to be taken as a serious comparison, nor was it likely to cause serious or widespread offence.
While the decision is welcome the basis is wrong: no2id were using an advert for the purpose of widely promoting a message and not for commerce. As such the complaint was entirely outwith their remit since they have no jurisdiction to decide on matters of political speech and opinion. That was the proper basis for rejection.
And of course the repulsiveness of New Labour sycophants complaining about the 'decency' of no2id when their own party & government has been on a psychotic rampage against civil liberties and freedom is too much.
In the future New Labour's disciplinary directorate, AKA 'the police', will be able to prosecute no2id for causing such offence; a power long overdue: free speech doesn't include the right to offend others or criticise anyone, let alone defame the Dear Leader. There needs to be 'a balance of rights', free speech doesn't include the right to shout 'fire' in a crowded theatre. Oh, someone seems to have spiked Geeklawyer's cappuccino with a 'brain dead cliche' pill.
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