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NZ SUSTAINABLE / SCREENGRAB
A screenshot from the Sustainable NZ Party ad in which frontman Vernon Tava spoke to a woman portrayed as a supporter, but who is actually an actress and her partner.
This story was originally posted on RNZ.co.nz and is being republished with permission.
The Sustainable New Zealand Party has admitted that a woman featured in one of its online video ads does not own a small business named Jill, but is a partner of the party leader.
The ad showed the party’s leader, Vernon Tava, speaking with a supporter named Jill, who owns a small business and is frustrated with the direction New Zealand is headed.
However, when approached by RNZ, Tava admitted that the woman was an actress named Julie, who is also his partner.
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He also confirmed that a shortened version of the ad had appeared on a television network.
Despite this, Tava said he did not believe the ad was misleading.
“We are not selling a product and it certainly was not intended to be a documentary,” he said.
“We have not made any statement that these are genuine people speaking about their business or other genuine practices.”
Tava said it was commonplace, in his opinion, to use actors for advertisements.
He also said that the script was based on an amalgamation of conversations with real people.
“It’s surprisingly difficult to find people who are really capable of delivering convincing results in front of the camera, so we did it the way they did.”
When asked if viewers could distinguish between an actor and a “real person” without revealing it, Tava said he did not think it was “relevant to the communication of the party’s message.”
However, a marketing professor at the University of Auckland said there was a possibility that the ad violated advertising standards.
“I think portraying her as a small business owner, without revealing the fact that she is an actress and, in fact, her business partner, I think most people would see that as not telling the truth,” said Dr. Bodo Lang. .
“He hasn’t told, maybe he hasn’t told a lie here, but he certainly hasn’t revealed the truth and my feeling is that this would be a violation of standards.”
Lang pointed to the second principle of the Advertising Standards Code called “Truthful Presentation.”
The section states that advertisements must not mislead and cannot mislead, mislead or confuse consumers or exploit their lack of knowledge.
“This includes by implication, inaccuracy, ambiguity, exaggeration, unrealistic statement, omission, misrepresentation or otherwise.”
Tava said he doesn’t think the ad is genuinely misrepresentative or misleading at all.
This story was originally posted on RNZ.co.nz and is being republished with permission.
