Emap caught out by ASA in size complaint over Zoo

by Staff,, Brand Republic 08-Dec-04, 11:00

LONDON – Emap has been told that it was not justified in calling its lads' magazine Zoo 'the biggest men's weekly' by the advertising watchdog, following a complaint from rival IPC Media.

IPC objected to a claim on the cover of Zoo magazine, which stated "The biggest men's weekly". The Time Inc-owned publisher is behind rival magazine Nuts, which is considerably outselling the Emap title.

The latest ABC figures, for January-June 2004, give Nuts a circulation of 288,676 and Zoo 197,165.

The "biggest" claim appeared on two covers of Zoo magazine in August, despite the title carrying the exact same amount of pages as rival Nuts.

Emap argued that the claim was based on the fact that the standard number of pages in Zoo magazine was increased from 100 to 108 pages from mid-July onwards and pointed out that, at that time, the other weekly men's magazine Nuts had 100 pages.

However, Emap conceded that Nuts magazine included an extra pull-out section, but argued that, because it was numbered separately within the magazine, it did not affect the standard pagination of 100 pages.

The Advertising Standards Authority said that because each magazine had 108 pages in total, the advertisers had not justified the claim "The biggest men's weekly".

Emap has not repeated the claim since August.

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