Booking offensive: Travel website cleared by advertising watchdogs

Advertising watchdogs have cleared travel website Booking.com of any wrongdoing after more than 2,000 complaints from viewers offended by the site's similarity to a common swear word.

In the TV ad campaign, which was also shown in cinemas, holidaymakers are shown arriving at their destination while a voiceover states:

The Advertising Standards Agency received a total of 2,345 complaints from viewers, the majority of whom said the repeated use of the word "booking" was offensive because it had been substituted for the expletive 'f***ing'.

Some said the adverts were likely to encourage swearing in children, and were unhappy that it had been shown before children's films such as Paddington and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb.

But officials ruled that the advert clearly enunciated the word "booking", which they judged meant any children caught swearing would have had to have heard the swear words elsewhere.

The Cinema Advertising Agency added that it had borne in mind the "long history of double entendre" and word substitution in British humour when approving the advert.

A statement from Booking.com claimed there was "no ambiguity" about the use of the word, which it said was used repeatedly to reinforce brand recognition.

They said the word was used at all times in a positive tone that conveyed enthusiasm and joy, rather than with any negative or derogatory tone often associated with swear words.

The most complained-about UK advert of all time was by betting firm Paddy Power, which attracted 5,525 complaints and was banned for offering "money back if he walks" during the Oscar Pistorius trial.

It also attracted more than 120,000 signatures on a Change.org petition.