Ads for a van with burgers that contain photos of Madeleine McCann are banned for offensive reasons.
Advertisements for The Otley Burger Company, which took place on Mother’s Day, show the missing girl and her mother Kate McCann with the caption: “With such good burgers you will leave your children at home. What’s the worst that could happen? “
In the background was a man running with a smaller image of Madeleine in his arms, along with the words, “Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers there.”
The promotional images were posted on the company’s social media sites and later reported to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
Image: Madeleine’s mother, Kate McCann, was also featured in the ad
Read more: Suspect Madeleine McCann claims it would be “absurd” for him to kidnap her
A total of three complaints have been lodged with the regulator, all claiming that the ads are likely to cause stress and serious or widespread infringement.
The ASA said it considered the nature of the content so alarming that it asked Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to remove the posts and suspend the account pending an investigation.
In response to complaints, the Leeds-based home company said all ads have been removed and will not run again.
However, it was still available for viewing on Facebook from Wednesday morning.
An Instagram post containing the content has been removed from Meta, the technology giant said, and restrictions have been placed on the burger’s account.
Twitter has confirmed that a tweet showing the ad has been deleted.
Image: Madeleine McCann
The “light up” advertisement for Madeleine’s disappearance
Madeleine McCann was almost four years old when she disappeared from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Algarve, Portugal, on May 3, 2007.
Her disappearance has come as a shock around the world and is still widely known, which the ASA says means that the images used in the ad will be “instantly recognizable to many people.”
“Furthermore, we thought that any mention of a missing child could be disturbing and that in the context of an advertisement promoting a burger company, the disaster caused was unjustified,” the body added.
Image: Madeleine McCann was almost four years old when she disappeared in Portugal
It goes on to say that the image of a man fleeing with a superimposed photo of Madeleine “trivializes the circumstances” surrounding her disappearance and “sheds light on a disturbing news story.”
The timing of Mother’s Day publications “probably complicated the suffering of those who saw the commercials, and especially those who may have survived the disappearance of a child,” the guard said.
In the end, the ASA ruled that the ads should not be shown again and the home food company was notified.
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