RNIB slams 'tasteless' blinds advert banned by the ASA for ‘making light' of disability

The Advertising Standards Authority has banned an advert by a home furnishing brand selling “quality blinds without having your eyes out”, as it is “likely to cause serious offence to some people” – with the Royal National Institute for Blind people (RNIB) slamming its “damaging and tasteless representations of sight loss”.

An unnamed individual, described as being severely sight impaired, complained to the watchdog over the advert from 247Blinds after it was spotted on its website back in July, and questioned whether it was likely to cause “serious or widespread offence”.

The ad features a woman with paint splatters and stars over her eyes, along with text promising “made-to-measure quality blinds… without having your eyes out” and stating “blind envy starts here”.

When approached by the ASA, 247 Home Furnishings (which trades as 247 Blinds) said the expression “having your eyes out” was “widely recognised” as a phrase referring to someone’s eyes “popping out in disbelief” when presented with an overpriced item.

The ruling continues: “[247 Blinds] intention was to convey that customers would be pleasantly surprised by their prices and would not ‘have their eyes out’ when they saw them.

“Whilst they acknowledged that the play on words ‘quality blinds’ may have been seen as in poor taste, they believed that most people would have found it humorous, rather than seriously offensive.”

The company also said the complaint to the ASA was the only one they had received about the ad, which had finished at the end of July after being shown on multiple platforms, receiving more than 1.7 million impressions and being viewed by 182,000 users.

Except, while the ASA acknowledged “quality blinds” was “intended as a humorous play on words related to the advertiser’s product, window blinds, and the verb, ‘to blind’”, the ad was still banned for being “likely to cause serious offence to some people”.

“We also acknowledged that the claim ‘having your eyes out’ was an expression known to some people to mean your eyes popping out in disbelief at something – for example, a high price.

“However, we considered that all the elements of the ad seen together – the play on words; ‘quality blinds’; the use of the expression ‘without having your eyes out’ and the image of the person with stars and paint splatters covering their eyes – would be understood as a reference to blindness, and had the effect of making light of the disability.

“We therefore concluded that the ad was likely to cause serious offence to some people,” it said.

RNIB, the UK’s leading sight loss charity, has welcomed the ASA’s decision, saying it’s “heartened” the regulator chose to ban the advert.

Vivienne Francis, RNIB’s chief social change officer, told indy100: “RNIB is working with advertising and creative agencies to promote the power of inclusive communications - driving a whole sector response to making accessibility a first thought, not an afterthought.

“It’s extremely disappointing when ads like this one by 24/7 Blinds show damaging and tasteless representations of sight loss. We’re heartened that the Advertising Standards Agency has banned it after it was judged to be making light of sight loss and likely to cause serious offence to some people.

“RNIB is working to build a world without barriers for blind and partially sighted people and even seemingly small steps, like adding Alt Text and image descriptions to ensure people with sight loss can understand, enjoy and engage with images, are important to help build that world by changing the narrative around sight loss - and ultimately society.”

The ban from the ASA means the advert cannot appear again in its current form, with the company told it must ensure future marketing material “did not cause serious or widespread offence, particularly on the grounds of disability”.

The watchdog enforces a code set by the Committee of Advertising Practice, with section 4.1 stating "marketing communications must not contain anything that is likely to cause serious or widespread offence".

It reads: "Particular care must be taken to avoid causing offence on the grounds of: age; disability; gender; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; and sexual orientation.

"Compliance will be judged on the context, medium, audience, product and prevailing standards. Marketing communications may be distasteful without necessarily breaching this rule.

"Marketers are urged to consider public sensitivities before using potentially offensive material.

"The fact that a product is offensive to some people is not grounds for finding a marketing communication in breach of the Code.

247 Home Furnishings has confirmed to the ASA that the ad would no longer be shown online, and after being approached by indy100, declined to comment further.

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