Madeleine McCann, who was nearly four years old when she vanished from her family’s holiday apartment in Portugal in 2007, was seen in a burger van commercial with her mother.
The use of photos of Madeleine McCann in advertisements for a burger truck has been prohibited because they are offensive.
The missing toddler and her mother, Kate McCann, were featured in commercials for the Otley Burger Company that aired on Mother’s Day, with the caption: “You’ll leave your kids at home if the burgers are this tasty. What are the worst-case scenarios?”
A guy was shown sprinting in the backdrop, holding a miniature image of Madeleine and the words “Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there.”
The promotional images were shared on the company’s social media sites, and the Advertising Standards Authority was notified (ASA).
Three complaints were made to the regulatory body, alleging that the advertisements were likely to cause distress and serious or widespread offence.
The ASA said it was so concerned about the content that it asked Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to take down the posts and suspend the account while it investigated.
The Leeds-based takeaway responded to the complaints by saying that all of the adverts had been deleted and will not show again.
On Wednesday morning, however, it was still viewable on Facebook.
Meta has taken down an Instagram post containing the information, and the burger van’s account has been restricted, according to the company.
A tweet with the advertisement has been removed from Twitter, according to the company.
The ad ‘lightened up’ on Madeleine’s disappearance.
Madeleine McCann was nearly four years old when she vanished on 3 May 2007 from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal’s Algarve.
The ASA stated that the photos featured in the commercial would be “instantly identifiable to many people” since her abduction caused shockwaves throughout the world and is still well recognised.
“We also felt that any allusion to a missing kid was likely to be unpleasant,” the authority said, “and that the grief caused in the context of an ad promoting a burger brand was inappropriate.”
The picture of a guy fleeing with an overlaid photo of Madeleine “trivialised the circumstances” surrounding her abduction, according to the statement, and “made light of a terrible news story.”
The postings’ Mother’s Day placement “certainly increased the grief of individuals who viewed the advertising, particularly for those who may have experienced the absence of a child,” according to the watchdog.
The ASA eventually determined that the commercials could not be shown again, and the takeout firm was contacted.