Facebook group succeeds in stopping adultery ads

A Facebook group, started by a Christian, has succeeded in getting a website encouraging adultery to stop publicly advertising.  

The group, STOP maritalaffair.co.uk, advertising publicly in the UK, was started by Jon Kuhrt, who works for a Christian charity in London.  The group is now shut down, a message on the Facebook page said yesterday.

A report in the East London Advertiser said that the website, marital affairs.co.uk, had stopped advertising on billboards around the UK after the company's directors received a deluge of emails and phone calls complaining about the advertisements.

A website spokeswoman said, “We have instructed our agency to remove ads from our current campaign in light of recent developments.  People have the right to chose their own lifestyle.   Marital Affairs’ provides a safe and secure outlet for those who are considering this.”

However, the ads angered many.  East End campaigner Bex White was so incensed that she contacted Tower Hamlets councillor Tim Archer.  She said, “It is a free country, but this promotion of extra-marital affairs is offensive to those who have been hurt by them, adults and children alike, and to those who believe in the value of strong marriages.”

Mr Kuhrt created the Facebook group after the ASA declined to act on his complaint about a billboard in Merton which read: "HELLO GIRLS.  Get instant excitement at MARITALAFFAIR.co.uk."

The advertisement, which also featured a picture of a man with no shirt on and a bra slung over his shoulder, is for a website which claims to deliver "uncomplicated adult fun" for "bored housewives looking for a bit on the side.”

In an ASA letter reproduced on the Facebook page, Mr Kuhrt is told the agency will not act because the advertisement does not offend against "widely accepted moral, social or cultural standards.”

On his Facebook page, Mr Kuhrt highlighted the "trauma and suffering caused to individuals and communities by the damage of affairs and the breakdown of relationships they cause."

by Tom O'Gorman