The Conscious Advertising Network (CAN) is facing criticism from hard-right Brexiteer MP Lee Anderson over comments allegedly made by one of its directors Jerry Daykin, who suggested that former Brexit Party and UKIP leader Nigel Farage was a fascist.
Anderson, who was a Labour party member until 2018 before defecting to the Conservatives, has called on culture secretary Lucy Frazer to cut ties with CAN, which works with the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) on establishing advertising standards.
CAN has increasingly come under fire from hard-right groups in recent months, which have accused it of promoting “cancel culture”, alleging it has links with pressure group Stop Funding Hate, which has successfully lobbied brands to stop advertising across news platforms such as GB News, which has been accused of fuelling hate speech.
However, the network has clarified its stance on political ad boycotts, saying: “The Conscious Advertising Network actively supports free speech, and we have never called for any ad boycotts based on political views.”
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Daykin’s comments were made in a tweet responding to prime minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to ‘take action’ over the closure of Nigel Farage’s bank account by Coutts for political reasons.
Daykin compared the bank’s decision, which is a private business, to the choices occasionally made by some bakeries not to create pro-LGBT items as it does not conform with their beliefs: “Wait… I thought everyone was campaigning so that the bakeries didn’t have to make gay cakes? Surely banks don’t have to serve fascist accounts as well?”
In a statement, CAN co-chairs Jake Dubbins and Harriet Kingaby said: “The Conscious Advertising Network is a non-partisan, non-political network of 180+ advertisers, agencies and civil society groups. Founded to create a safe, inclusive and commercially viable information ecosystem for advertisers and society that supports quality journalism and content, diversity of media and scientific consensus.
“As a group, we are committed to inclusion of diverse voices, child safety, tackling misinformation, driving sustainability within advertising, reducing ad fraud, enhanced privacy protections for consumers and eradicating hate speech.”
