Watchdog bans Trump anti-turbine ad

Sep 19 2012

An anti-wind turbine newspaper advert by the Trump Organisation has been banned by the advertising watchdog.

The ad in a regional newspaper carried the heading "Welcome to Scotland!" above a photograph of broken and rusty turbines. US tycoon Donald Trump opposes plans for an offshore wind farm to be built near the site of his luxury golf resort in Aberdeenshire.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld three complaints made about the ad after its investigation found it was in breach of regulations.

Two readers and Scottish Renewables challenged whether the photograph gave a "misleading impression" because the picture was of a decommissioned wind farm in Hawaii. They said Scottish regulations prevent turbines from being allowed to deteriorate to the condition shown in the picture.

Scottish Renewables also challenged whether the photo and the ad's text stating "Alex Salmond wants to build 8,750 of these monstrosities" were also misleading because the model of turbine featured is not used in Scotland and because the proposed number is "significantly less".

The ad, for Communities Against Turbines Scotland (Cats), contained small print at the bottom stating "Photo not taken in Scotland".

In a joint response to the complaints, the Trump Organisation and Cats said "experience overseas had shown that as the turbines aged, they broke down, deteriorated and rotted" and that the picture "had been used with a strong sense of satire for dramatic effect".

They said the photograph of disused turbines was "illustrative of what the target for onshore wind might look like if it did not thrive" and that its purpose was to illustrate what could happen if the Scottish Government policy was taken forward, which they said was clear from the text and they pointed out that the picture was not taken in Scotland.

But all three complaints were upheld and ASA said the picture gave a "misleading impression of the type of turbine likely to be used in Scotland".

ASA said: "The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Trump and Cats to ensure that the pictures they used in future ads reflected the types of turbines likely to be used in Scotland, and not to exaggerate the number of turbines likely to be installed or the possible consequences of the Scottish Government's plans to use wind turbines."