London, UK - There is to be no investigation into the atheist bus in spite of hundreds of complaints, Britain’s advertising watchdog has ruled.
The Advertising Standards Authority received 326 complaints about the campaign, in which buses have been plastered with the logo, “There’s probably no god. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”
But in a statement today the ASA said the £140,000 campaign by the British Humanist Association was not in breach of the advertising code. “The ASA will therefore not launch an investigation and the case is now closed.”
The ASA said it “carefully assessed” the complaints it received. Some complained that the advertisement was offensive and denigratory to people of faith.
Others challenged whether the ad was misleading because the advertiser would not be able to substantiate its claim that God “probably” does not exist. The ASA council concluded that it was “an expression of the advertiser’s opinion and that the claims in it were not capable of objective substantiation.”
Although the ASA acknowledged that the content of the advertisement would be at odds with the beliefs of many, it concluded that it was “unlikely to mislead or to cause serious or widespread offence.”