Most complained about travel advert of 2015
Booking.com was responsible for the second, fourth and seventh most complained about ads last year.
Its three TV and cinema ads attracted almost 1,300 complaints in total after viewers thought the company had used the word ‘booking’ in place of a swear word.
None of the ads was banned by the Advertising Standards Authority.
The most controversial of the series attracted 683 complaints from viewers who said it was ‘offensive and encouraged bad language amongst children’.
However, the ASA said: "We did not uphold the complaints, judging that it was a light hearted play on words that couldn’t be mistaken for an actual swear word. We also ruled that the ad was unlikely to encourage swearing amongst children; any children that did pick up on the joke were unlikely to have learned bad language through the ad itself."
The advert was also the second most complained about ad in 2014.
The most complained about advert overall last year was produced by Moneysupermarket.com, which attracted more than twice as many complaints as Booking.com’s most controversial advert. Some 1,513 viewers said they were offended by the Moneysupermarket ad which featured a man walking down a street and dancing in high heels and denim shorts.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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