Complaints about a Hobson’s Pledge advertisement published in the New Zealand Herald have been partly upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority. 

The lobby group’s two-page advert, published on August 7 on the front page and second page of the newspaper, called to restore “the foreshore and seabed to public ownership”. It included a map of New Zealand, an image of a beachball on sand next to a sign saying “beach closed”, and commentary on Customary Marine Titles. 

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received more than 672 complaints about the ad and a decision released today partly upheld some of those complaints. 

The ASA complaint’s board said the identity and position of the advertiser, Hobson’s Pledge, was clear. A majority of the board’s members said the advocacy advertisement did not reach the threshold to breach the ‘Decency and Offensiveness’ or the ‘Fear and Distress’ rules. 

However, the board said: “Some claims in the advertisement were materially misleading as to the effect of customary marine title and therefore the advertising was not socially responsible.” 

NZME chief executive Michael Boggs said the company welcomed the ASA’s decision. 

”We received feedback from our own team, our subscribers and clients and we’ve taken that feedback seriously. Our Advertising Acceptability Policy includes a requirement that factual information is able to be substantiated by the advertiser and today’s ASA decision confirms the advertiser did not meet this requirement,” Boggs said. 

“We’ve undertaken a thorough review of our Advocacy Advertising Policy and processes, including a focus on how we can ensure claims made in advocacy ads are substantiated by the advertiser. Our revised policy will be finalised in the coming weeks.” 

The ad sparked reaction from across the political spectrum, including from Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi who said the Herald had been “bought off by a well-resourced anti-Māori collective”. 

A group of more than 170 legal academics and lawyers labelled the ad as “abhorrent” and likely to “mislead, deceive or confuse customers both explicitly and by implication, ambiguity, exaggeration and false representation”. 

Hobson’s Pledge stood by the ad at the time, with trustee Don Brash claiming there was nothing untrue and that opponents were attempting to suppress political discussion and dissension. 

”The level of rage the ad generated speaks to the degree to which radicals have whipped their supporters into a frenzy. It is concerning and appears to be escalating.”