ASA ditches complaint

Henry Brookman, the divorce lawyer who gained notoriety over an advertisement urging clients to 'Ditch the bitch', described as a 'victory for common sense' the decision by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to dismiss a complaint against the poster.In a further development, the poster has been nominated for Campaign magazine's 'Readers' Award' for ad campaign of the year.A private individual in Surrey had complained that the poster was offensive, irresponsible and degrading to women.The firm's advertisements - one urging men to 'Ditch the bitch', and another showing a woman lying face down on a bed with the strapline 'All men are bastards' - were launched earlier this year and provoked widespread condemnation from family lawyers, with Rosemary Carter, then chairwoman of the Solicitors Family Law Association, describing them as 'absolutely deplorable and highly offensive'.The ASA, however, dismissed the complaint, maintaining that 'although the advertisement used a provocative headline, it was unlikely to encourage people who were not thinking of divorce to do so.'It also said the poster was humorous and not intended to offend, and the targeted audience - the posters were placed in men's toilets in the City - were unlikely to be offended.Mr Brookman, a sole practitioner based in London, said many of the accusations were 'plain silly'.'Hyperbolic suggestions that happily married couples would file for divorce on seeing the posters was just ridiculous,' he said.

'The ASA ruling is totally consistent with the messages of amused support that I've been receiving.'Victoria MacCallum