The ad, for image retouching service the Pixel House, ran in a magazine and showed a pile of photos. On top was one of the pictures the Daily Mirror published earlier this year, claiming it showed British soldiers torturing Iraqi prisoners. The photos were later proved to be fakes and Piers Morgan, the editor of the Mirror, lost his job over the scandal.
A member of the public complained to the Advertising Standards Authority about the ad, saying it was offensive.
The Pixel House defended the campaign, saying it was not meant to be a comment on events in the Middle East but was a comment on a media-related news story made by a media-related company. It told the watchdog it had already decided not to run the ad again because of its topical nature.
The magazine in which the ad appeared, The Drum, received a letter of complaint about the ad from a reader but also was also sent a letter of support.
The ASA ruled that, even though the image was fake, it could seriously offend some readers because it showed a soldier urinating on a hooded man in an act of abuse and humiliation. It welcomed the Pixel House's plan not to use the image again and told it not to use a similar approach in the future.
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