Transport for NSW has banned a bus advertising campaign about cruelty to kangaroos from animal protection institute Voiceless, saying it was concerned it was too political and potentially distressing for children.
Voiceless had planned to run the ads on Sydney buses as well as billboards at Sydney railway stations, aimed at getting Australians to consider the fate of kangaroos.
The ads were banned from buses despite having approval from the Outdoor Media Association, the peak national industry body that represents most of Australia's outdoor media display companies.
The campaign will instead be launched across billboard campaigns, showing an image of a kangaroo and her joey with the words “Their fate is in your hands”.
Transport for NSW told Voiceless that the authority had not seen the ads in question but had concerns about the content on the Voiceless website.
Voiceless head of communications Elise Burgess told AdNews the organisation was surprised by the ban.
“Given the soft nature of the imagery used in our ads, Voiceless was shocked that it resulted in a last minute veto from Transport for NSW. Especially when considering that similar, if not more graphic, ads have been displayed on NSW buses with no complaint in the recent past," she says.
“The point of our campaign is to raise awareness about an industry and its illegal practices that many Australians do not know about. Every year millions of kangaroos and joeys are slaughtered for the commercial trade with little question about the methods, which are brutal, such as the bludgeoning or decapitation of joeys."
A Transport for NSW spokesperson told Fairfax Media that as contract buses are publicly funded, there are standards in place that restrict the display of “political or similar matter, or advertising that may offend".
Recently the Alcohol Advertising Review Board (AARB) banned an outdoor ad placed at a bus stop for Lion Cider. The organisation is currently pushing for further legislative restrictions on all outdoor advertising.
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