Ad banned for suggesting London black cabs have properties that prevent the spread of coronavirus
- Reference: 1606311014
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/11/25/black_cab_covid_ad/
- Source link:
It appears the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) would agree because an ad by the the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA) [2]has been banned for overegging the effect black London cabs might have on reducing the risk of coronavirus.
A complaint was lodged with the UK watchdog about a radio spot heard on 9 July, when the country was happily pretending the first lockdown never happened and that things would be back to normal by Christmas.
Oh dear.
The ad went as follows, replete with taxi sound effects in the background:
Me, I'm no different to anyone else right now. I'm concerned about my well-being so I always hail a black London cab. The permanent screen keeps me divided from the driver, it's like being in my own bubble back here. Sat on the back seat, they're over two metres from me. And with contactless payments, it's even safer. I'm a black cab customer and I'm confident I'm safe. Oh, just here please.
It's easy to sympathise with the taxi industry, not least for its struggle to compete with the meteoric rise of Uber and its ilk, but also because government rules this year have seriously damaged the whole public transport sector.
But to intimate that a black cab magically protects the rider from infection in a hermetically sealed bubble would seem a bit rich to most.
The complainant challenged whether the ad was misleading, and the ASA upheld that complaint after meticulous investigation.
In its defence, the LTDA pointed to the partition common to black cabs, saying that where there were any gaps in the divide, it would be simple to seal them. To prove the presence of a two-metre distance between driver and rider, the group provided the watchdog with internal dimensions of three cab models. It also said the interiors were made of wipe-clean plastics that were disinfected between rides.
Conceding that people would be aware that "the risk of contracting COVID-19 when taking a London black cab could not be negated entirely," the ASA added: "However, we considered consumers would understand from the ad that while using any London black cab, they could sit completely separate, and over two metres, from the driver."
So they pored over those measurements. "The internal dimensions showed that in two of the three models there was a distance of exactly two metres or more between the driver and passengers sat on either side of the taxi's backseat. However, the third model showed that the distance was either two metres or less. We were therefore concerned that it was not always possible to sit 'over' two metres from the driver in the way the ad claimed."
With regard to claims about the protective properties of partitions, the watchdog cited Transport for London guidance saying that "while it was possible that partitions may reduce the risk of transmission of infection, the risk would not be eliminated entirely."
It added: "We also understood that there was no requirement on drivers to install the additional seal. We therefore considered it would not always be possible to sit in a 'bubble' completely separated from the driver, as implied by the ad."
Wrapping up, the ASA said that although it recognised the intention was merely to talk up features of black cabs that "might be particularly attractive to consumers in the context of COVID-19", because it could not be guaranteed that riders would be "over" two metres nor "completely separated from the driver", the ad was deemed to exaggerate its coronavirus-stymying properties.
It therefore was found in breach of UK Code of Broadcast Advertising articles 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.9 (Substantiation), and 3.12 (Exaggeration).
The ad was banned in its current form and the LTDA was told not to exaggerate black cabs as a mode of transport that prevents the disease spreading. ®
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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2020/02/28/bork_bork_bork/
[2] https://www.asa.org.uk/rulings/licensed-taxi-drivers-association-ltd-a20-1070673-licensed-taxi-drivers-association-ltd.html
[3] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Seems a bit harsh
@Tim 11
Glad I am not the only one. Although reading the transcript it doesnt look like it is promoting anything other than protection from the driver interaction.
Re: Seems a bit harsh
>>>protection from the driver interaction<<< Isn't that enough justification!
Re: Seems a bit harsh
Yep In all the black cabs I've caught since 'lockdown one' there has been a seal on the cash payment hole. All the cabbies were wearing masks and quite a few had hand sanitser in the back for customers to use. One told me that she cleaned all the touch points and the seats in between jobs. I also have a window open to reduce chances further and am always wearing a mask.
I certainly feel safer from covid in a black cab than on the bus or the tube. I also don't understand people on trains who despite the carriage being empty come and sit extremely close to you. Yes they're normally but not always 2m away but they could easily be 4 times that. What the fudge is that all about? I normally mover to another seat further away to make a point. One of my colleagues has stopped using Uber because she felt she was just sharing a car with a stranger. Albeit a car driven by a masked stranger which also didn't help with her fears.
Re: Seems a bit harsh
Self interest alone would suggest the cabbies are trying hard to avoid catching anything from us punters as well. They're don't have the best job for a robust cardiopulmonary system.
Re: Seems a bit harsh
Similar to when I park in a spot in a back corner of a shopping center lot, just want to sit alone for a bit. Someone will then park right beside me. I'm assuming this is some sort of neurotypical compassion/empathy thing where people shouldn't be left alone or something.
They nearly always look like limited types with no inner life. If anything, they make me even more considering of doing away with myself, if only to get away from them.
Re: Re: Seems a bit harsh
That's some A-grade misanthropy.
Re: Seems a bit harsh
> I also don't understand people on trains who despite the carriage being empty come and sit extremely close to you. Yes they're normally but not always 2m away but they could easily be 4 times that. What the fudge is that all about? I normally mover to another seat further away to make a point.
That's a phenomenon that I have noticed on the Skytrain here. It's weird isn't it?
Practically empty carriage and the one passenger has to come and sit right in front of me.
We are all wearing masks, but that is supposed to be the second line of defence *after* maintaining distance from others.
Uber vs Black cab flame war incoming.
Followed by horse and cart vs the automobile .
Aerosols
Surely the problem is aerosols from one passenger still being present in the air in the back of the cab - it's a sealed box, after all - ready to be inhaled by the next occupant?
Re: Aerosols
You just open the windows or at least that's what I do.
Can we compare Tube travel to a ride in a Taxi.
When I have to visit London and have to use the tube, I always end up with something. If its not sticky dirty hands or chewing gum on my trousers I end up catching a cold. I travelling on the tube, I am subjected to hot and cold temperatures (cold platforms and draft tube) and then subjected to the fumes and dust of the tube and the streets of london.
When I have a meeting near to paddington and I am on expenses I catch a taxi, so no hot and cold and most of time it's air-conditioned door to door and no black hanky issues.
Re: Can we compare Tube travel to a ride in a Taxi.
Walk? London isn't really that big, a bit further from your start station - grab a hire bike.
It's amazing the number of people who have no idea how far things are apart in London. I've shown a number of passengers much faster ways to their destinations, but then I've also seen people get onto the northern line at Warren Street and off at Goodge Street. (not quite covent garden - leicester square, but not far off)
Re: Can we compare Tube travel to a ride in a Taxi.
A hire bike is useless if you have bulky luggage. I agree some stations are closer than the Tube map suggests. My main reasons for getting a cab is that I'm late and I'm supporting somone who had no income during lockdown. As I was and am again furloughed and on full pay (company makes up the difference) I feel that's the right thing to do. The same with my cleaner who has really suffered from a drop in income, I've got an annual travel card so TFL aren't doing badly out of me either.
Re: Can we compare Tube travel to a ride in a Taxi.
An even more extreme example is Paddington to Lancaster Gate.
I've seen people take the Bakerloo Line to Oxford Circus and change to the Central Line.
The walking distance between the front of Paddington Station and Lancaster Gate is about the same as from the front of Paddington Station to the back of Paddington Station.
Re: Can we compare Tube travel to a ride in a Taxi.
Shall I compare Tube travel to a Taxi Cab?
Thou have more lurgy, and raised temperatures,
Rough hands shake not the disinfected ways to pay
For Covid's lease hath all to short a date;
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... oh, I give up. I don't really think it was working anyway.
I'd be more concerned about them using the word "bubble". Since that word has a specific meaning in Coronovirus legislation it could give a false impression that black cabs were somehow exempt from the rules about social distancing.
Seems a bit harsh
At the risk of inciting a flame war, the decision seems a bit harsh to me. I would imagine the risks of catching anything from the driver in a black cab with the screen is significantly less than in a normal minicab due to the screen. On balance I think that would be enough to make the difference between whether I felt safe enough to use one or not.