BARNARDO'S DRUG BABY ADVERT IS CRITICISED

Barnardo's reacted angrily yesterday after a watchdog attacked an
advertisement that appeared to show a baby injecting himself with heroin.

The Committee of Advertising Practice urged newspapers not to run the
advert by the children's charity, which is intended to show what can happen
to abused or disadvantaged children if they are not helped when young.
However, the committee has no power to enforce a ban.

The full-page advert, launched today, is the fifth in a hard-hitting
Barnado's campaign showing children in squalid situations, but the first to
use a baby. It features a 10-month-old boy sitting on a dirty floor wearing
only a nappy, clutching a syringe and gripping a tourniquet in his teeth.
The text reads: "John Donaldson. Age 23. Battered as a child, it was always
possible that John would turn to drugs. With Barnardo's help, child abuse
need not lead to an empty future."

A spokesman for the committee's sister organisation, the Advertising
Standards Authority, said that although complaints about previous
Barnardo's adverts had not been upheld, this one was in a "completely
different league" and was likely to cause widespread offence.

Despite Barnardo's claims that the picture had been digitally altered, it
was "very realistic" and likely to fool readers, he added. However, the
charity said it felt angry at what it saw as an "inappropriate" ruling.

Andrew Nebel, Barnardo's director of marketing and communication, said:
"They're not making due allowance for a charity talking about its work. If
this was a supermarket trying to use shock tactics just to sell products
from its shelves one might agree with the committee."

The Daily Telegraph is running an old Barnardo's advertisement instead of
the new one.