The "SmokeFree.co.uk" TV ad highlighted the health risks of passive smoking and depicted a wedding reception at which a female smoker lit a cigarette and blew thick black smoke across the room. Children and adults were seen inhaling the noxious-looking smoke.
"Most cigarette smoke in a room comes from the lit end," the voiceover told viewers. "Unfiltered, and even more toxic, it attacks vital organs of everyone who breathes it, increasing their chances of heart disease by a quarter, even if they've never smoked. But the scariest thing is you can't even see it. Eighty-five percent is invisible. Second-hand smoke, the invisible killer."
The Advertising Standards Authority received complaints on six counts. None were upheld.
Imperial Tobacco and 35 viewers challenged the ad's claim that inhaling someone else's smoke would increase their chances of heart disease by a quarter if they had never smoked, arguing it was misleading and could not be substantiated.
The Department of Health provided evidence supporting the ad's claim and the basis of the complaints was rejected.
Imperial Tobacco and 12 viewers also complained that the commercial was unjustified and appealed to fear.
The DoH argued that the ad's purpose was to demonstrate that second-hand smoke existed, that it was dangerous, and that its presence could not always be detected by sight and smell. The Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre acknowledged that the ad was sinister in tone, but concluded that its approach was thought provoking and justified.
The remaining four issues of complaint were similarly quashed.