Sofa King boss furious as ‘offensive’ shop advert is barred by industry watchdog
THE owner of a furniture shop in Northampton is “furious” the advertising slogan he has used for a decade has been banned.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) yesterday banned Sofa King from advertising its prices as ‘Sofa King Low,’ because the strapline was “likely to cause serious and widespread offence.”
Speaking to the Chronicle & Echo after the ruling, Mark Kypta, owner of Sofa King, based in Towcester Road, Far Cotton, said: “I agree with what the ASA stand for, but I think in this case they’ve got it wrong. We’re going to fight it all the way.”
The decision followed three complaints from readers of the Northampton Herald and Post newspaper following an advertisement that appeared on August 4 last year.
Mr Kypta, who has been using the slogan since he began trading 10 years ago, said the decision, based on three complaints, was “ridiculous” and he would not be re-branding his shop front or vehicles. He said the advertisement had appeared in the free weekly newspaper every week for 10 years without receiving any complaints.
The ASA ruled the advertisement, which read “The Sofa King – Where the Prices are Sofa King Low!”, breached codes governing responsible advertising and must not appear again in its current form.
The advertising watchdog said the slogan had previously prompted complaints to police in 2004, although these were not pursued.
In the ASA adjudication it was 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.”
But the ASA upheld the challenge that the slogan was offensive, and while it noted the phrase did use the advertiser’s company name, it 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.”
Mr Kypta said: “For them to ban the advertising I find absolutely ridiculous.
“It takes one person to complain about an advertisement and they have to take it seriously. Thousands of people have seen the advertisements.
“On our Facebook page people have said they find it more offensive people have actually complained. The public are behind us and think it’s crazy.”
He compared small business Sofa King to global fashion retailer FCUK, saying: “They wouldn’t dream of banning their name.”
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 67 comments to this article
Page 1 of 5
Chronic Les Ingles
Monday, March 19, 2012 at 12:22 PMI would check out which furniture store puntoman runs
The Sofa King Ltd
Thursday, March 15, 2012 at 03:08 PMmmmm thought id check this blog to see if anymore supported comments had been posted and wow.. Mr puntomans comment really too took me by surprise! What a nice chap he is! Really positive, obviously very intelligent with no anger management issues to speak of. Keep up the good work Mr puntoman helpful comments like yours simply ensure more customers visit the showroom. Realise they can save a small fortune, realize they can have delivery straight away and realize you must be just a little bit silly... Cheers and have a great day! The Sofa King xx
ck1506
Friday, March 9, 2012 at 01:22 PM@ puntoman I would suggest that your vindictive words are far more offensive than the companys slogan. The sofa kings 'pathetic excuse for a business' is keeping several people in employment, as well as contributing to the towns economy by means of paying business rates. With reference to your comment regarding the items the company sells, it is my understanding that the items come from argos and homebase, woukd you suggest they close down too?
puntoman
Monday, March 5, 2012 at 08:16 PMFor once a government quango has got something completely right. This pedlar of complete and utter cheap throw away tat must comply immediately with the order. If not he must be closed down with immediate affect. For the brain dead commentators that are supporting this sad pathetic excuse of a business and saying get a life to the complainants and anybody who supports them it is you the needs to get a life and learn some morales and decent standards.
Poly
Monday, March 5, 2012 at 12:08 AMThis is bloody ridiculous. Why is it only a problem now, after 10 years of successful trading? If you don't like what it looks like, here's a solution: Don't read it. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't read every single shop front that I'm going past. That's a pretty poor excuse. As for the building being yellow... Well. It's been yellow for the last 10 years. It's probably not as bad as it was when it was painted. Weathering fades things doesn't it? I honestly think this is the biggest waste of time. Keep it up, Sofa King!!
Hunsbury Chris
Saturday, March 3, 2012 at 11:52 AMI've just got back from Tesco where I purchased a tasty box of cupcakes clearly labelled '4KING CUPCAKES' yum yum
wisdom
Saturday, March 3, 2012 at 11:42 AMShould have read,'LIVELIHOOD'! In case it looked liked something else LOL!
wisdom
Saturday, March 3, 2012 at 11:38 AMSOFA KING LOW? Where in these 3 words does it say f******? Just how it sounds when it is pronounced! Get a f****** life to all those complaining.We have mass immigration,mass unemployment,with the muppets at the helm forcing them to work for nothing,risking everyones job when employers can get work done for nothing! NHS at risk of being privatised,bus station being replaced with a glorified bus shelter,fish market demolished!!! I could go on and on but havn't the time.Good on Mark standing up for his business and livleihood,this is the best publicity you could get and it's not costing you a penny! Who are the muppets here? Another last thing,remember Stan Boardman when he used to tell jokes about the focke wulf (fokker aircraft)? In this world today we need a f****** laugh!!
The Sofa King Ltd
Saturday, March 3, 2012 at 11:07 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, The sofa king
MartyBoy34
Saturday, March 3, 2012 at 02:06 AMAs people have already said,this screams of pettiness and NIMBY`ism.Even my 15 year old said "What is so offensive about that".My oh my we don`t use the wordage that your thinking of @Lady Muck.I suggest you teach your filthy mind a lesson.All the slogan suggests is that The Sofa Kings prices are low. Get off Mr Kypta`s back,the man has traded and employed in this town for ten years,he deserves respect and as he said what is it that you see in"SOFAKINGLOW" that you don`t see in "FCUK". Get a life!!!!
johnjs
Friday, March 2, 2012 at 10:12 PMIm now waiting for the post below to be reported !!!
johnjs
Friday, March 2, 2012 at 10:10 PMIts sofa king stupid.
KevSmith
Friday, March 2, 2012 at 07:38 PMcan someone please tell what is so offensive about sofa king and its advertising slogan.....sofa king low..........ohh i get it....its a play on words, and thats is offensive ? please im sure HM courts have better things to spend money on than this...who ever bought this action against mr Kypta must have a sofa king intelligence quotient...as for this criticism of the colour - what ever colour its painted will cause offence...Could i suggest a shocking pink with flourcescent green stripes that will ensure its seen from space..for heavens sake - its been there 10 years....get a life nimbys !!
kefalloniacobbler
Friday, March 2, 2012 at 02:38 PMI'm amazed that anybody can be offended by mere words in the 21st century. The schoolkids that congregate outside our local shops at lunchtimes seem to regard taboo words as being in normal usage. Such words are an unfortunate sign of having a limited vocabulary, but if you are going to be offended, try to be offended by something more important.
lady muck
Friday, March 2, 2012 at 10:07 AMWhy not move into Multiyorks shop and put the slogan up there...classy !
Page 1 of 5
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.