Northampton furniture store’s advert banned for offensive slogan
An advertisement for furniture store The Sofa King has been blacklisted for claiming its prices were “Sofa King Low”.
The slogan - which has been used as the Northampton companies strapline since it began trading and appears on the firm’s shop front and vehicles - sparked complaints to police in 2004, the advertising watchdog said.
It drew further criticism when it was used in a regional newspaper ad which has now been banned.
Three readers of the Northampton Herald and Post claimed the catchphrase was “offensive and unsuitable for general display” when it appeared in the paper on August 4.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld their objections.
“The ASA noted that the phrase ‘Sofa King Low’ used the advertiser’s company name but considered that it could be interpreted as a derivative of a swear word, which consumer research had found to be a word so likely to offend that it should not be used in ads at all, even when it was relevant to the name of a product,” the watchdog said.
“Because of that, we concluded that the slogan was likely to cause serious or widespread offence.”
The Sofa King, based in Northampton, defended its advert.
“They said complaints made to Northamptonshire Police in 2004 were not taken further by the Crown Prosecution Service and that no complaints had been made direct to them,” the watchdog said.
“They said the slogan simply used their company name to refer to pricing and that the words had not been changed or run together or punctuation used in a way that was intended to cause offence.
“They did not believe the slogan caused serious or widespread offence.”
Email to a friend
Print this page- BREAKING NEWS: Tributes paid to Niamh Curry as brave five-year-old loses battle against cancer
- BREAKING NEWS: Pensioner dies after collision at Northampton shopping centre
- Man tied to tree and beaten on Northampton Racecourse
- BREAKING NEWS: Woman’s body found after ‘suicide’ in Northampton hotel room
- BREAKING NEWS: Seven-year-old boy dies following house fire in Northamptonshire
- Northampton binmen at ‘breaking point’
- Staff strike at Northampton school over academy plans forces closure
- Saints’ stadium plans get support as long as traffic issues solved
- Eastern European pupils helping school standards across Northampton
- Exclusive: PM David Cameron says Northamptonshire Police Commissioner role is “a big job for a big local figure”
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Northampton
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
Comments
There are 63 comments to this article
Page 1 of 5
The Sofa King Ltd
Saturday, March 3, 2012 at 11:11 AMOnce again thank you for all your comments with regards to this story. I will be issuing a press release next week as my solicitor has been working very hard to find legal grounds to get this ruling over turned by the ASA. I'm sure some of you think this is a publicity stunt to get this amazing free press coverage but I can assure everyone it is not! The ASA ban adverts every single day, most companies expect the adverts to be banned and create the ads in the 1st place knowing they would get complaints the free publicity that goes with it, once someone complains to the ASA. I on the other hand have used the same advert for nearly 10 years, 3 large delivery vans have the slogan written on and of course my showroom in far cotton has 'where the prices are sofa king low' written on the front of the building. Please keep supporting my business as in this case the 'little guy' will win! (well I'm going to try my best anyway) Ta for reading, Mark Kypta
steve rodhouse
Thursday, March 1, 2012 at 03:38 PMComment Removed. I suggest you ask the Chronicle And Echo directly about why # 25 was removed. May I suggest you use Delapre Abbey as a hint?
ck1506
Thursday, March 1, 2012 at 11:01 AMThis is a local business that employs local people. You can walk into any tescos and purchase 'four king cupcakes' without anyone batting an eyelid, feel theres more chance of children buying those than a sofa? With so many closed businesses in Northampton, surely there are more important things to worry about?
lady muck
Thursday, March 1, 2012 at 07:33 AMQuickly 'totting up'...I count five of us against. Looks like once again, I'm in the minority. Carry on then....
lady muck
Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at 11:35 PMmojo...sadly I have spent time in 'the N Lincs town' A highlight was a visit to the blast furnaces at Appleby Frodingham Steelworks....hence 'the irons'....no other reason for the nickname.
spudley
Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at 06:59 PMThis is my fave slogan ever. There is much difference between a clever play on words and shouting obscenities. If we go down this line, we will have to ban children shouting "catch it"
Links
Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at 05:42 PMIt makes me smile when you read some of the comments here bemoaning the state of society and the vulgar language people use nowadays like it's all some modern occurrence. You can go back from Martial in Roman times, through Chaucer, Shakespeare, Pepys... They all favoured a bit of smut and vulgar language and no one picks them up for it! Shakespeare in particular was rather partial to word play along the lines of the Sofa King slogan although his were far ruder! We really have become a nation of delicate little flowers, haven't we?
Shalom
Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at 05:25 PMJust feel that this slogan is unnecessary ly crude and ugly. Is this what it takes to get our interest these days ?
executioners_bong
Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at 05:07 PM'Three readers of the Northampton Herald and Post claimed the catchphrase was “offensive'' That's quite a high figure as a percentage of the overall readership...
executioners_bong
Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at 05:01 PMThis is Sofa King stupid.
pushkin
Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at 04:52 PMWell its a great shop with fantastic bargains and all this FREE publicity - good luck and I and my family and friends will continue to shop there and recommend it to all.
Onslow
Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at 04:48 PMWell the story has made it into The Sun, wonder how much this sort of coverage would have cost them. Fantastic marketing
mojo
Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at 04:20 PMCricket commentary "the batsman's Holding the bowler's Willey"?
Pinnerz
Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at 04:13 PMOk, I'm going to give everyone the answer to this problem.... If your not offended by the slogan, fine carry on and shop there etc, etc. If you was one of these people who was offended by this, DON'T LOOK AT THE SLOGAN, DON'T SHOP THERE AND MOVE ONTO THE NEXT ADVERT!! PLUS GET A HOBBY IF THIS IS ALL THAT BOTHERS YOU IN THE WORLD!!
Pinnerz
Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at 04:06 PM30 to 40 years* (it wont let me use the dividing character)
Page 1 of 5
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.