A television advertisement for a direct cremation company has been prohibited after it was found to have misleadingly suggested that the standard package included an attended funeral service.
The advertisement for Pure Cremation, which aired in January, featured a woman standing in her home surrounded by drinks and plates of food. She stated: "That was a great celebration. Dad would have loved it. He hated how expensive traditional funerals are, so he got a Pure Cremation funeral plan. He wanted his money to go to us, not funeral expenses."
The woman continued: "It was a proper, dignified cremation. They were so respectful. Pure have their own beautiful crematorium and they hand-delivered his ashes in an urn, and stayed for a cup of tea and a chat. Then we used some of the money he saved to remember him our way."
A disclaimer during the advertisement read: "Pure cremations don't include a ceremony at the crematorium so are more affordable than a traditional funeral."
The camera then panned to show more food and drink, as well as flowers and family pictures.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 12 complaints that the advertisement misleadingly implied that the standard plan included an in-person service.
Pure Cremation argued that the advertisement's setting and wording were intended to depict a private celebration taking place at home, not a service at the crematorium. They noted that references to ashes being hand-delivered and staff staying for "a cup of tea and a chat" further emphasized the home setting.
However, the ASA upheld the complaints, stating that Pure Cremation's standard plan allowed mourners to attend the crematorium to receive their loved one's ashes, but there was no commemorative service.
The ASA said: "We considered that describing the crematorium as 'beautiful' and the cremation as 'dignified' suggested a personal and ceremonial element to the service. We also considered viewers were likely to assume that the woman's ability to describe the cremation in those terms meant she had some basis on which to reflect on the experience directly, and therefore that some form of attended ceremony or service had taken place, for which she had been present."
"We did not consider that the references to hand-delivering ashes, or to staff staying for 'a cup of tea and a chat', would necessarily imply, in isolation, that an attended service at the crematorium was included. However, in the context of the ad as a whole, we considered those references contributed to an impression of a personal and supported funeral experience."
While the watchdog acknowledged that the disclaimer stated that a service or ceremony at the crematorium was not included, "we considered that information was not sufficient to override the overall impression created by the language used."
It added: "For those reasons, we concluded that the ad misleadingly implied that the standard Pure Cremation package included an in-person funeral service, when that was not the case."
Terry Tennens, chief executive of the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (Saif), welcomed the ruling. He said: "It's been astonishing to witness how some direct cremation TV adverts brazenly imply that a loved one who'd opted for an unattended funeral received a fitting send-off. It's vital that all direct cremation marketing clarifies that funeral services and gatherings are not only not included but that a bereaved family would have to organise it for themselves."
He added: "There is a worrying number of people who are experiencing long-term emotional problems as a result of misleading marketing. This is leading to poor funeral choices and it's something we need to address as a society. Our advice to the members of the public considering a direct cremation is to discuss what it entails with your local funeral director. They know what questions to ask people planning funerals to ensure that the most appropriate service is arranged."
