ANN7 billboard offending elderly to come down Sapa

Sapa

The Gupta family's Africa News Network 7 has agreed to remove its giant billboard on the N1 highway, saying it did not intend to offend the elderly.

The South African Older Persons' Forum recently lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) about the advertising campaign, which displayed a picture of an elderly man with the words "We are not old farts. . . nah, not even our presenters".

Forum national co-ordinator Roedolf Kay, said the wording amounted to abuse of the elderly in terms of the Older Persons Act, the Beeld reported on Wednesday.

According to the ASA, the forum requested the removal of the board and that ANN7 should either be reprimanded or fined.

The ASA said it was not authorised to impose fines on any advertiser.
ANN7 said the board was part of an advertising campaign centred on wordplay, and that there had been no intention to harm or offend anyone.

The rental agreement for the billboard was cancelled and the advertisement would be replaced by artwork.
The ASA accepted the undertaking conditional to the removal of the billboard and an agreement not to use it again in future. – Sapa