'Irresponsible' advert featuring parkour runner banned

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Superdry logoImage source, Getty Images

An advert for clothing brand Superdry which features a parkour runner has been banned following complaints it's "socially irresponsible".

The video featured 20-year-old freerunner Nightscape (aka Harry Gallagher).

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld the complaint, calling the advert "harmful and irresponsible".

Superdry says the clothes being promoted "would not appeal to children".

Nightscape regularly posts daredevil photos, external on Instagram.

The advert was posted on Facebook in October.

Nightscape is seen walking across an exposed beam above a city skyline at night.

A viewer complained the ad was "socially irresponsible and encouraged an unsafe practice".

Image source, Getty Images

Superdry responded saying the advert features a "professional parkour or free running athlete with a social media following, and his age and the brand's solely adult clothing lines meant the ad would not appeal to children".

The company says there is "nothing in the ad which actively encouraged viewers to undertake copycat behaviour".

However, the ASA ruled that while the ad "did not actively state that consumers should undertake the activity, the implication of the text in particular was that it was a fun and daring thing to do".

"While we acknowledged the lack of ease of access to such a location meant it would not be an easy activity to emulate, we considered it was likely to appeal to some young adults as an act of dexterity and daring", it added.

"For those reasons, we concluded that the ad was harmful and irresponsible."

Last month, a Chinese climber fell 62 storeys to his death after climbing a high-rise building without any safety equipment, prompting questions about the controversial social media craze 'rooftopping'.

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