‘Scary’ UK Climate Ad Faces Probe

Prepping the next generation for acquiescence, perhaps? — Alex

A £6m government ad warning about climate change isto be investigated by watchdogs over claims it is misleading and too”scary” for children.

The Advertising Standards Authority hasreceived 357 complaints about the Department of Energy and ClimateChange’s “bedtime stories” ad.

The ad aims to make adults feel guilty about the impact their carbon emissions are having on their children’s future.

It is being used to promote DECC’s Act on CO2 carbon reduction initiative.

Theminute-long ad, which launched on 9 October, features a father tellinghis daughter a bedtime story about “a very very strange” world with”horrible consequences” for children.

It then goes on to show streets and houses underwater, with cartoonanimals and people drowning and a jagged-tooth monster in the sky,representing global warming.

Taste and decency

Italso includes scientific claims including the line: “The grown-upsdiscovered that over 40% of the CO2 comes from everyday things likekeeping houses warm and driving cars.”

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2009-10-21