Digital TV News

UK TV viewers reveal what adverts they want banned

Tuesday 7 February, 2012

By Duncan Heaney

Public says yes to toy adverts, no to cigarettes and gambling.

The majority of Britons agree that cigarettes, gambling, personal injury lawyers and plastic surgeons should be banned from advertising on TV, a new poll from research group YouGov has revealed.

Almost 80% of those surveyed said that cigarettes shouldn’t be promoted on television - a real drag for the tobacco companies. Viewers don’t lend a great deal of interest to payday loans ads either, with 75% in favour of blocking these commercials.

We’re all OK with adverts for gambling though, right? Don’t bet on it - 73% believe that ads for this should stay off our screens. And personal injury lawyers could be feeling like the injured party after 65% of those polled agreed that ads for these services shouldn’t be broadcasted.

It also seems that the majority of us thumb our natural noses at plastic surgeons - adverts for facelifts, breast enhancements, nose jobs et al were considered unwelcome by almost 63% of participants . The same proportion believe that abortion providers should also stay away from television.

But viewers aren’t against all advertising. The most accepted type of advertising was for children’s toys - 79% thought they should be allowed to play on TV, and only 15% were against them. The majority of people were also pro-university advertising. A full 84% of people said they were fine with educational institutions promoting themselves, compared to just 11% who thought this type of advertising should be banned.

It also seems that most consumers will eat up advertising from fast food companies. Of those polled, 61% accepted these commercials on television. Even so, a third of people believe that they shouldn’t be on our screens at all.

A smaller majority of participants said eye, eye to laser surgery ads (54%) and voted yes to political candidates campaigning on telly (58%).