Irate mother complains Chessington's Zufari advert 'misleading'

Even Oscar Wilde, credited with popularising the phrase "expect the unexpected", may have struggled to convince readers that the gateway to the sprawling African plain lay within the confines of a Surrey theme park.

But an advert featuring the unlikely fantasy of meeting zebras, a giraffe and a rhino in their natural habitat - while on a visit to Chessington World of Adventures - was taken literally enough for one irate mother to complain when her expectations, and those of her eight-year-old daughter, were not met.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the television advert promoting the park's Zufari ride was unlikely to lead to children having unrealistic expectations of the ride experience.

The complainant, who went on the ride with her child, challenged whether the advert was misleading.

But the ASA said it felt the advert clearly depicted a heightened sense of reality, which was evidenced from the outset when the children awoke in a bunk bed in the middle of an African plain with the sun rising over mountains in the distance.

The regulator, which decided not to uphold the complaint, said in its report: