“Offensive” ad campaign banned for showing US dollars burning
An OOH campaign that included US dollars and euro notes burning has been banned by the ASA, which claimed that the posters could cause offense to tourists visiting from abroad
According to the campaign, every single river, stream, and lake in English and Welsh national parks is polluted
Environmental charity, Campaign for National Parks, launched an out-of-home (OOH) campaign to raise awareness about the prevalence of water pollution in UK waterways.
According to the charity, every single river, stream, and lake in the 13 national parks in England and Wales are polluted. The campaign aimed to raise awareness of this fact, in a bid to make the UK government end water pollution.
The campaign appeared throughout September across 35 Ocean Outdoor roadside and city retail screens in six cities including Bristol, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, London, and Cardiff.
The campaign to end water pollution forms part of Ocean’s annual ‘Drops in the Ocean’ environmental fund, which awards two percent of the company’s annual reported revenue in advertising space to environmental causes.
The campaign was launched following revelations from the Campaign for National Parks that the quality of water in the country’s National Parks is getting worse, not better.
According to the organisation, of the 880 lakes, rivers, and streams across the 13 national parks in England and Wales, just five meet the highest standards that might be expected from these protected landscapes. The charity reports that not a single water body in an English national park is in good overall health.
Also cited was a recent study from University of York, which found pharmaceutical contamination at 96% of locations tested in England's national parks, with some results revealing higher drug pollution levels than seen at urban sites in London, Leeds, and Belfast.
Campaign for National Parks chief executive, Rose O’Neill, comments: “National parks should be full of pristine waterways brimming with wildlife, but the ugly truth is every single river and lake is polluted.
“It's a perversity of the broken water system that the situation within national parks is worse than elsewhere. A key culprit is sewage pollution and the toxic cocktail of chemicals which flood these fragile ecosystems, as identified by the University of York's research.
“Despite being internationally recognised as protected areas for nature, many sewage works within national parks operate to much weaker standards than those in towns and cities… The government must ensure this does not continue.”
Ocean Outdoor UK senior marketing manager, Shona Dobson, adds: “This campaign will significantly raise public awareness about the scale of the problem facing water bodies in some of the most important landscapes in England and Wales.”
Campaign for National Parks is asking the public to help in putting pressure on the government to take urgent action and implement clean water protections across UK National Parks by writing to local members of parliament.
