Watchdog upholds 115 complaints against Harold Shipman advert

The Advertising Standards Authority has upheld 115 complaints against a Leicester insurance firm that used a photo of serial killer Harold Shipman in its advertising.

DeadHappy, which styles itself as “the home of the deathwish”, used a photo of Shipman, who is thought to have murdered up to 250 people during his time as a GP in the North West, with the strapline “Life Insurance. Because you never know who your doctor might be.”

Paid for ads appeared on Instagram and Facebook on 23 January but were taken down the next day following a raft of complaints. The company subsequently apologised for any offence or distress caused and confirmed it would not run the ad again.

It is also reviewing its processes in relation to the creation of ads.

In upholding the complaints, the ASA determined that elements of the advert “trivialised and made light of the murders committed by Harold Shipman, such that they were likely to cause both serious and widespread offence to those who saw them.”

In a statement, the watchdog said: “We further considered that any reference to the murderer in advertising material was likely to be distressing, particularly for those who had lost family members or friends at Shipman’s hands and that, in the context of an ad promoting life insurance, the distress caused was unjustified.

“We concluded that the ads were not prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society and did not comply with rules on issues of harm and offence. We welcomed DeadHappy’s assurance that they would not be repeated.”

Responding to a barrage of criticism last month, DeadHappy’s founder Andy Knott said: “Being provocative is different to being offensive and it is of course never our intention to offend or upset people. It is our intention to make people stop and think. If however you have been personally distressed by this advert we do sincerely apologise.”