The promoting watchdog has dominated {that a} nationwide newspaper advert by Lloyds Bank which said “£19.5bn for social housing… And that’s simply the beginning” was deceptive.
The advert, printed in The Times on 25 March, featured a black horse galloping previous new properties underneath building.
Prominent textual content within the advert claimed: “£19.5bn for social housing. And that’s simply the beginning,” whereas a subheading learn: “Everyone deserves a protected place to name house. That’s why we’ve supplied £19.5 billion to the social housing sector since 2018”, accompanied by the slogan “Helping Britain Prosper.”
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) obtained a grievance that the advert implied Lloyds had donated £19.5bn in money, whereas the funds have been really provided by funding and business lending.
The ASA agreed, saying that the advert didn’t make clear the place the cash got here from, and so a reader was prone to assume charitable giving somewhat than a monetary association.
Lloyds’ defence mentioned its 2024 annual report confirmed it gave round £20bn to social housing since 2018, together with by loans and capital markets.
The financial institution mentioned The Times’ educated, higher-income readership would perceive the context of the advert and infer that the £19.5bn was given commercially.
But the ASA concluded that the presentation of the advert was ambiguous and deceptive.
As a consequence, the ASA has banned the advert in its present kind. The watchdog mentioned: “We advised Lloyds Bank plc t/a Lloyds Banking Group to not misleadingly suggest that they’d donated cash to social housing tasks when that was not the case, and to make sure future adverts didn’t mislead by omitting important info that put claims into context.”
A Lloyds Banking Group spokesperson responded: “We acknowledge the ruling however respectfully disagree with this particular determination. We consider the advert was clear, aligned with the ASA’s requirements of accountable promoting and could have been understood by any cheap reader. It precisely mirrored our business assist for the social housing sector, and we stay dedicated to speaking this impression in a means that’s clear and simply understood by all audiences.”
