Adverts for a life insurance firm that joked about serial killer Harold Shipman have been banned for causing serious and widespread offence and distress > 자유게시판

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Adverts for a life insurance firm that joked about serial killer Harold Shipman have been banned for causing serious and widespread offence and distress.

, featured images of Shipman and the text: 'Life insurance...

Because you never know who your doctor might be.'

Shipman in his position as a GP in Hyde, Greater Manchester.

He used his position as a doctor to murder hundreds of people over a 27-year period dating back to 1971 using the drug Diamorphine. 

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said it received 115 complaints that the the ads irresponsibly caused serious and widespread offence and unjustified distress.

The Facebook and Instagram ads for DeadHappy, seen on January 23 , featured images of Shipman and the text: 'Life insurance...

Because you never know who your doctor might be'

Shipman murdered between 215 and 260 of his patients in his position as a GP in Hyde, Greater Manchester

DeadHappy apologised, saying the ads first appeared at 2pm on January 23 and were taken down at 8am the next day when it became clear they were causing offence.

The great-grandson of one of Shipman's victims previously hit out at the 'despicable' advert used by the life insurance firm.

Tim Hill, 29, told MailOnline his great-grandfather Charles Henry Barlow was killed by Shipman and said he finds it 'utterly unconscionable for DeadHappy to use the image of Shipman for crude jokes and cheap publicity.' 

Charles Henry Barlow, an 88-year-old former police sergeant from Hyde, died at his home on November 22, 1995, only minutes after a visit from Shipman. The Shipman Inquiry concluded Mr Barlow was unlawfully killed 

The advert caused controversy on social media, with many expressing concern for the impact it would have on the families of Shipman's victims. 

One person said: 'As someone whose relative was murdered by Harold Shipman, your latest advert utilising his image is despicable and unacceptable.'

Another person tagged the firm in a Tweet, saying: 'What on EARTH were the marketing team thinking using this as your advert?

'You should be ashamed of yourself!

Those poor families :(' 

The firm said it was reviewing its processes in relation to the creation and approval of ads 'and would endeavour to make better informed decisions going forward'.

As a GP, Shipman presented himself as a pillar of the community - but in reality, he used his position as a doctor to murder hundreds of people over 20 years.

Charles Henry Barlow, an 88-year-old former police sergeant from Hyde, died at his home on November 22, 1995

Tim Hill says he remembers the stress his family went through during the Shipman Inquiry

Shipman used his position as a doctor to murder hundreds of people over a 27-year period dating back to 1971 using the drug Diamorphine

The advert caused controversy on social media, with many expressing concern for the impact it would have on the families of Shipman's victims

He received 15 life sentences with no parole and was incarcerated at Durham Prison.

Shipman was then moved to Wakefield Prison in June 2003.

On January 13, 2004, he took his own life in his prison cell.

Facebook and Instagram acknowledged the complaints but made no comment.

The ASA said the ads 'trivialised and made light of the murders committed by Harold Shipman, such that they were likely to cause both serious and widespread offence to those who saw them'.

It added: 'We further considered that any reference to the murderer in advertising material was likely to be distressing, particularly for those who had lost family members or friends at Shipman's hands and Buy Hetzner Account that, in the context of an ad promoting life insurance, the distress caused was unjustified.

'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, DeadHappy founder Andy Knott 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.'