Samsung has been cleared by the advertising watchdog following complaints over an ad which featured a woman running alone at 2am was criticised for being irresponsible.

Critics say the ad, for a Samsung smart watch, encouraged unsafe behaviour.

It attracted 27 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) from viewers who noted the number of recent high profile cases where women had been attacked in similar circumstances.

But now the ad has been cleared by the ASA who say it “did not encourage an unsafe practice” and was “not irresponsible”.

In April, women’s safety group Reclaim These Streets described the campaign as “tone deaf” in light of the death of Irish teacher Ashling Murphy, who was killed after she went for a run in January.

The 23-year-old’s death in Tullamore, Co Offaly, caused shockwaves and sparked vigils across Ireland and beyond in her memory, as calls were made for a change in how to tackle gender-based violence.

It led to the hashtag #shewasonarun as women shared stories about being harassed while out running.

Responding to the complaints to the ASA, Samsung acknowledged that the ads might have been “perceived as insensitive by some viewers, particularly given the recent high-profile attacks on women at night”, and apologised.

Ad won’t be screened again in UK

The tech giant said the ads would not screen again in the UK but welcomed clarity on whether or not the campaign breached advertising rules.

Samsung said that while the ads were not intended to encourage women to go running at night, “the unsafe element complained about related to the risk of predatory individuals attacking the woman shown in the ads and that running alone at night, of itself, did not present that risk”.

They added that the victims of attacks who had chosen to run alone at night “should never be blamed or judged for deciding to take the risk” and believed that a ruling that advertisers could not show individuals running alone might be perceived in that way.

Upholding complaints could set precedent for ‘victim blaming’

Ad clearance agency Clearcast said the danger was not the fault of the woman running, and it was concerned that upholding the complaints “could set a precedent for wider victim blaming, making it difficult to assess future ads”.

The ASA said that it recognised some care would be needed when running alone at night, but that the woman in the ad appeared alert in a well-lit area.

The watchdog added that it considered running alone at night, of itself, was not likely to result in harm or injury.

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