BUSINESS WITH PERSONALITY THE BORED ROOM A DIFFERENT BALL GAME HOW TO LIVEN UP WHY ENGLAND’S FAVOURED THE MOST TEDIOUS DUKE IS YET TO WORK P18 OF MEETINGS P13 WEDNESDAY 14 AUGUST 2019 ISSUE 3,435 CITYAM.COM FREE CHEESED OFF Watchdog blocks TRUMP LIFTS Philadelphia ad over gender roles STOCKS WITH CLIMBDOWNHARRY ROBERTSON video game consoles, certain trade concerns and China, jumped 1.71 toys, computer monitors, per cent and 1.96 per cent respectively. @henrygrobertson and certain items of European stock markets were US PRESIDENT Donald Trump footwear and clothing”, dragged out of the red, where they had lit a rocket under Wall Street APPLE while other items would languished for most of the day. yesterday after backtracking be removed from the Germany’s Dax index rose 0.8 per cent, on his threat of immediate tariff list altogether. the FTSE 100 climbed 0.5 per cent, and tariffs on technology and 4.23% Wall Street opened the pan-European Euronext 100 rose consumer products from China, lower yesterday but imme- 0.9 per cent. offering global markets some diately rallied following the Gold retreated from its record high to relief from Washington’s trade war announcement, with the tech- $1,502 an ounce amid a respite in the with Beijing. heavy Nasdaq leading the drawn-out trade war between the The Trump administration GOLD way to close up 1.95 per world’s two biggest economies. has now delayed fresh tariffs cent at 8,016.36. The yield on 10-year US Treasuries on Chinese imports such as The Dow Jones rose 5.3 basis points (0.053 percentage laptops and mobile phones $1,502 Industrial Average points) to 1.693 per cent. Yields move until 15 December. They had increased 1.44 per cent inversely to prices. The Japanese yen, a JAMES WARRINGTON cheese sparked complaints over the been due to begin next month. and the S&P 500 closed up famous so-called safe haven asset, fell suggestion that men were incapable At the start of the month the 1.5 per cent. 1.26 per cent against the dollar so that @j_a_warrington of caring for children. US announced it would apply 10 Shares in American tech $1 bought ¥106.66. THE ADVERTISING watchdog has The ASA banned the ad, ruling the per cent tariffs to $300bn (£248.6bn) companies surged, with Apple “The consumer facing piece of the banned two adverts in its first humour derived from the use of of Chinese goods, meaning nearly gaining five per cent in as tariff exemptions boosted the tech crackdown on campaigns that harmful gender stereotypes. all imports from China are many minutes after the sector, especially companies like feature harmful gender stereotypes. The watchdog also banned an levied following a ramping up announcement and clos- Apple,” said Alfonso Esparza, senior In landmark rulings published advert for the Volkswagen eGolf of tariffs in May. NASDAQ ing out the session in market analyst at foreign exchange today, the Advertising Standards following complaints that it Yet the US trade representa- New York up 4.23 per firm Oanda. Authority (ASA) censured Mondelez portrayed men engaged in tive’s office said yesterday in a cent. Industrial bell- Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at and Volkswagen for portraying adventurous activity and women in statement that tariffs would be 1.95% wethers 3M and trading website Markets.com, said gender roles and characteristics in a care-giving roles. delayed for products such as Caterpillar, traditionally Trump had acted “to grease the wheels way that caused offence. “cell phones, laptop computers, among the most sensitive to of this market”. An advert for Philadelphia cream £ THE CITY VIEW: P2 Protesters and police clash for second day running at Hong Kong airport JAMES WARRINGTON pepper spray, while medics took an said operations at the airport had The clashes mark the latest gas illegally against protesters. injured person – accused of being been “seriously disrupted” and that escalation in tensions as thousands “Take a minute to look at our @j_a_warrington an undercover policeman – out of departing passengers had been of residents protest against a city, our home,” said Hong Kong’s HONG Kong International airport the main terminal. unable to reach immigration perceived erosion of freedoms and leader, Carrie Lam. “Can we bear to was plunged into violence last Protesters blocked several police counters. a tightening of control by Beijing. push it into the abyss and see it night as protesters clashed with vehicles and barricaded A spokesperson said: “Members The United Nations High smashed to pieces?” riot police during a second passageways inside the airport of the public are advised not to Commissioner for Human Rights The violent protests have taken consecutive day of chaos in the city. using luggage and trolleys as come to the airport. The airport urged authorities in Hong Kong to their toll on Hong Kong’s economy, Scuffles broke out as police tensions rose. emergency centre has been act with restraint and investigate pushing the Hang Seng Index to its pushed back protesters using Hong Kong’s airport authority activated.” media reports that police used tear lowest level in seven months. FTSE 100 ▲ 7,250.90 +24.18 FTSE 250 ▲ 19,008.18 +95.18 DOW ▲ 26,279.91 +372.54 NASDAQ ▲ 8,016.36 +152.95 £/$ ▼ 1.206 -0.002 £/€ ▲ 1.079 +0.001 €/$ ▼ 1.117 -0.005 02 NEWS WEDNESDAY 14 AUGUST 2019 CITYAM.COM KINDER SURPRISE Boris Johnson shell-shocked by prisoner’s body scan as he continues push for Tory crackdown on crime THE CITY VIEW Ad watchdog takes on social harm at its peril IMES are changing for the advertising watchdog. Founded in 1962, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) was Tbuilt on the principle of keeping ads legal, decent, honest and truthful, providing scrutiny to dubious claims made by brands. In recent years, however, the ASA has seen its jurisdiction expand. In 2004, the regulator added TV and radio to its roster of non-broadcast mediums. New online advertising formats have further added to its workload, and the regulator has now been left to navigate the murky waters of sponsored social media posts. But this is not the only development in the ASA’s work. No longer restricted to anodyne rulings on technical infractions, the watchdog is beginning to strike the gavel on matters of social responsibility. In a particularly notorious case in 2015, the ASA received hundreds of complaints that a weight- PRIME Minister Boris Johnson yesterday visited a prison in Leeds as he continued his push for a crackdown on crime, further fuelling speculation the Tory leader is on an election footing. Johnson appeared unsettled after being shown a body scan image loss ad featuring a bikini-clad model amounted to of a prisoner who tried to smuggle contraband into jail using a Kinder Egg hidden inside his body, normally used to hold toys. body-shaming. The regulator deemed that the billboard ad did not objectify women. In the latest iteration of this change of direction, the ASA has today handed down its first ad bans under new rules against harmful gender stereotypes. The regulator ruled that campaigns by Mondelez and Volkswagen portrayed men and women in stereotypical gender roles in a way that could be deemed offensive. The new measures are well- Wage growth highest in intentioned. An ASA review into advertising showed that harmful stereotypes can have a significant impact on both children and adults, which in turn can contribute to gender inequality. Reinforcing tired cliches in advertising is neither clever nor funny. However, these first rulings lay bare the 11 years despite GDP dip tightrope that the ASA must now tread. There is a risk that the HARRY ROBERTSON regulator starts to clamp down on creativity in a way that is growth in May. It also beat economists’ although “employment continues to expectations of a 3.8 per cent rise. increase” the “number of vacancies draconian and illiberal. Where do you draw the line between @henrygrobertson The rise means real wages – with has been falling for six months, with harmful stereotypes and innocuous ones? What role can BRITONS’ wages grew faster than at inflation taken into account – fewer now than there were this time humour play in mitigating harm? The regulator has become an any time since the financial crisis in climbed at an annual rate of 1.9 per last year”. the three months to June, official fig- cent in the second quarter excluding “Excluding bonuses, real wages are arbiter of taste, and so these are issues it must clarify. Moreover, ures showed yesterday, despite the UK bonuses. growing at their fastest in nearly four an imbalanced approach to this issue risks harming advertising. economy shrinking over the same Yet unemployment rose slightly to years, but pay levels still have not If there is a lack of clarity over what is deemed harmful, period. 3.9 per cent of the working age popu- returned to their pre-downturn peak.” agencies may adopt a risk-averse approach, sucking the lifeblood Meanwhile, the number of UK work- lation between April and June, figures Average regular pay before tax and ers without a job rose slightly in the from the ONS showed. other deductions was estimated at out of one of the country’s booming creative industries. three months to June, although it The score was above the 3.8 per cent £469 per week in real terms in June Navigating the intersection of social responsibility and creative stayed close to record lows, the Office seen in May and above predictions of 2019.