Lastminute criticised for 'Gary Glitter' ad

Advertising watchdogs have criticised lastminute.com for mentioning paedophile Gary Glitter in an ad to promote children's theatre tickets. The advert was emailed to Britons and showed two young boys' faces with copy "DOING IT FOR THE KIDS" and "Like Gary Glitter in a sweet shop, you too can have your pick of kiddy treats in London's theatre world". The Advertising Standards Authority ruled that the email breached the advertising code's decency clause. "We considered the reference to a registered sex offender in conjunction with images of children in an ad for children's theatre was likely to cause serious or widespread," stated the Advertising Standards Authority. Gary Glitter, aka Paul Gadd, was jailed in Vietnam earlier this month for molesting two young girls and jailed in 1999 in the UK for child sex offences as he possessed indecent images of children. According to a spokeswoman at Lastminute, the company was trying to create advertising which "stood out". However the company said it accepted that, on this occasion, there had been an error in judgement and that the e-mail was inappropriate. The Advertising Standards Authority