News

APN Outdoor runs anti-vaccination ad in Brisbane

APN Outdoor has run an advertisement for the Australian Vaccination-risks Network in Brisbane.

The billboard ad features a young child standing next to the words “vaccinated or unvaccinated, who is healthier?” with the Australian Vaccination-risks Network website directly below.

The APN Outdoor billboard in suburban Brisbane

APN Outdoor’s anti-vaccination billboard comes four months after the outdoor company decided not to run Aboriginal Victoria’s Deadly Questions campaign, which encourages people to ask probing, complex and controversial questions of Australia’s Indigenous population .

Mumbrella understands the company decided not to run the Aboriginal Victoria ads after the Outdoor Media Association (OMA) advised that the ads could be “deemed discriminatory”.

A spokesperson from APN Outdoor said in a statement to Mumbrella: “The ad in question is running on one billboard. The Outdoor Media Association advised us there were no issues with the ad.

“APN Outdoor did not refuse to run the Deadly Questions campaign. As we explained in June, when the ads in question were submitted to us, we referred them to the Outdoor Media Association which in turn referred them to the Advertising Standards Bureau, which is usual practice.

“The ASB advised that two of the seven ads submitted to us might be in breach of the industry’s code of ethics. This information was conveyed to the agency that created the ads. The agency then pulled all the ads from APN Outdoor. It is wrong and misleading to say APN Outdoor refused to run the Deadly Questions ads.”

The new APN Outdoor anti-vaccination ad has already received some backlash on Twitter, with users labelling the ad as “disgraceful” and “irresponsible”.

ADVERTISEMENT

Get the latest media and marketing industry news (and views) direct to your inbox.

Sign up to the free Mumbrella newsletter now.

 

SUBSCRIBE

Sign up to our free daily update to get the latest in media and marketing.