For what I believe is the first time ever the Advertising Standards Authority, the organisation that oversees advertising in the UK, and checks that it doesn’t go beyond the bounds of reasonable behaviour, has said that making fun of dyslexics is not acceptable.
They were called in to adjudicate on an advert for a student’s nightclub, which incorporated several remarks about dyslexics.
The ASA’s report considered that the advert, “in particular the deliberate errors in spelling and grammar, the letter L facing the wrong way, the dyslexic cooks joke and the Einstein cartoon, was likely to be interpreted as mocking people with dyslexia and suggesting they were stupid. We concluded that the ad was likely to cause serious offence.”
Dyslexics are more likely than many to be criticised for their inability to spell or create grammatically correct written sentences, because their problems are not visible. Indeed it is commonplace for dyslexics who are required to write in the workplace to find themselves unduly criticised in ways that those with more obvious disabilities are not subjected to.
If you want to read the offending advert and the ASA’s commentary on it, it is at http://asa.org.uk/Complaints-and-ASA-action/Adjudications/2010/4/Junkies-Ltd/TF_ADJ_48366.aspx
