Advertisements claiming to ‘set the record straight’ have been banned by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) for being inaccurate and misleading. The ASA received 44 complaints about newspaper and online ads placed by the Government which claimed that people on Universal Credit moved into employment more quickly – something the ASA said, “did not accurately reflect the evidence.”
The ASA said, “We considered that readers would understand the claim to mean that under UC the option to have rent paid directly to Landlords was generally available without restriction to all claimants who wanted it.”
The Department for Work and pensions said it was disappointed by the ban.