The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has taken action over a misleading Animal Aid ad which made the claim that pheasant shooting is subsidised by 'taxpayer money'.
In a complaint coordinated by the Countryside Alliance, it explained that no landowner receives any subsidies or other public money in connection with game shooting.
Animal Aid's advert appeared on page two of the Christmas special edition of the Big Issue magazine in December 2023.
The complaint went on to highlight that shooting is entirely privately funded and not supported by subsidy from the taxpayer as the advertisement asserted.
Moreover, it stressed to the ASA that, according 2014 Value of Shooting report, nearly £250 million is spent annually by shoots on conservation efforts and habitat management at no cost to the public purse.
In response to this complaint, the ASA decided that action needed to be taken. It advised the advertiser that in future they must comply with ASA codes, and offered them advice and guidance on doing so.
Roger Seddon, the Countryside Alliance’s shooting campaign manager, thought the regulator's action should have gone further.
“Although the alliance welcomes the recognition of wrongdoing by the advertiser through the taking of action, we believe that the action should have been more active in undoing the harm caused to society, in particular rural society.
"The ASA lists 'harm or detriment' as foremost in their list of prioritisation principles, as such the giving of advice seems paltry in comparison to the harm caused.
"A more apt response would have been to order an advert to be placed in the same prominent page 2 position of a future edition of Big Issue, explaining that the Animal Aid advert was misleading”.
He added: “That anti-groups take this deceitful approach to attacking shooting is not a new phenomenon, but we, as a rural community, must concert our efforts to fight our corner in the most scrupulous and honest way we can.
"Social licence is vital and hard-won, hopefully this decision by the ASA will make a small difference and demonstrate that we will not accept misleading adverts in the public domain”.
