Burger Joint’s Mother’s Day Ad Featuring Madeleine McCann Gets Banned

Photo 4541076 © Zhuang Hua | Dreamstime.com

There are memes that are funny, and there are those that are just out of line. One “meme” by English burger restaurant The Otley Burger Company only received three official complaints, but the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) found the nature of its content to be so cold-hearted that it enforced a ban on the image.

The graphic, posted to the joint’s social media channels on Mother’s Day in the UK (on March 27), joked about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, one of the most high-profile unsolved cases in modern history.

You can view the advertisement here, though it must be disclaimed that it can be highly distressing for those who have grieved over the disappearance of a loved one.

It included photos of the missing child and her mother Kate McCann, with the tagline: “With burgers this good, you’ll leave your kids at home. What’s the worst that could happen.”

A thief was depicted making off with the girl in the background, alongside the text: “Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums out there.”

In 2007, the three-year-old girl vanished from her family’s vacation unit at a resort in Praia da Luz, Portugal, while her parents Kate and Gerry McCann were out at a restaurant just 180 feet away. Her whereabouts, and the identity of who had potentially kidnapped her, remain unknown.

Three reports were made about the graphic to the nation’s advertising watchdog, which agreed that the exact date it was posted, coupled with the concept, made it essential for action to be taken.

Although the brand tried to convince moderators that the picture was just a meme and not an advertisement, justifying that there was no product placement, the ASA put its foot down. It condemned The Otley Burger Company for making light of a traumatic incident using “shock factor” and “offensive” imagery.

“We also considered it was likely to have compounded the distress of those who saw the ads, and particularly for those who may have experienced the disappearance of a child,” the ASA elaborated.

The advertisement was found to be so disturbing that the authority personally reached out to social networks Meta and Twitter and requested for the posts to be taken down. Meta pulled the post from Instagram on the grounds of community guideline violations, and while it was at it, the company investigated additional posts and removed those as well. Twitter also deleted the image and imposed restrictions on the account.

The ASA has ordered for the advertisement to no longer appear again, citing the “serious and widespread offense” it may cause.

[via The Drum and The Independent, cover photo 4541076 © Zhuang Hua | Dreamstime.com]