Sweden: Court fines Metro for deceptive front page ad

Posted by Maddie Hanna on June 30, 2006 at 3:49 PM

The Swedish Market Court just slapped Metro International with a fine of half a million kronor (close to $70,000) for running an ad that covered the entire front page of its 11 November 2004 Swedish edition, blurring the line between editorial and advertising content.

The ad for Xbox game Halo depicted a “large spherical building against a red sky” with the headline “The World will never be the same again,” Swedish news site The Local reported Thursday.

While Metro did print “Annonssida” (“Advertising Page”) in the top right-hand corner of the edition, “the impression given on a casual glance is that a catastrophe has occurred,” the Court’s ruling read.

It’s unclear what future impact this ruling will have on the international free paper giant, which frequently runs full front and back page ads.

Source: The Local (through European Journalism Centre)

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