Barnardo's ad tops ASA complaints

An advert for children's charity Barnardo's received the most complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) during 2008, it has emerged.

The commercial, which aimed to raise awareness of child abuse, received 840 complaints for scenes of drug taking and violence towards a young girl, but it was cleared by the authority, The Guardian reports.

The ASA received a record 26,434 complaints in total during the year regarding 15,556 separate advertisements.

Other commercials featuring in the top ten for complaints included a Volkswagen clip showing a distressed dog, a Heinz ad featuring a same-sex male kiss and Edith Piaf singing 'Je Ne Regrette Rien' in a Specsavers promo.

Of these ten adverts, only one scene was removed - that of the top of a bus being ripped off by a bridge in a Walkers Crisps commercial - which was taken out voluntarily by the company on hearing of the feedback.

Complaints about the other ads were either not upheld, cleared or not investigated after a council decision.

The ASA recently ruled against a Swiftcover insurance advert featuring Iggy Pop.