The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld on Wednesday complaints against the Department of Health for its anti-smoking advertising campaign.

One of the advertisements for an anti-smoking campaign ("Get unhooked”) showed smokers with giant fishhooks piercing their cheeks, another showed a hook pulling a mother away from her small daughter. A third depicted a man being pulled through traffic and into a news agent’s shop to buy cigarettes.
ASA decided the posters showing hooks clearly piercing the cheeks of the addicted smokers who looked distressed and in pain could cause distress to children. Although the posters had not been placed near schools, they had appeared in places where they could have easily be seen by children said ASA in its statement. "We considered that, although the posters highlighted the perils of tobacco addiction and discouraged smoking, because they were untargeted, and realistically and graphically showed the piercing of the cheek with a hook, they were likely to frighten and distress children.”
The ASA decided that two of the campaign's posters and two TV ads breached advertising regulations and told the Department of Health not to repeat the posters.