T&T Publishers and Broadcasters Association (TTPBA) president Daren Lee Sing has called on the group known as Citizens 4D Highway to properly unmask themselves in order to meet advertising standards. In a telephone interview yesterday Lee Sing said the TTPBA would host a meeting with stakeholders on Tuesday as the situation regarding ads from the group seemed to be escalating.
The group has published several ads in the T&T Guardian in October, beginning with a full-page advertisement on October 18 about a “newly discovered species called the Kublal.” “We continue to ask that the Citizens 4D Highway come forward and say who they are so the public could get redress,” Lee Sing said. “The issue at heart is standards and we are striving to meet the proper standards in our industry and to do that we must deal with every issue.”
He said while the TTPBA understands the business aspect, it has sought to speak to its members and get a position once and for all from them. “It could be that we all decide to respect each others’ decision or we could all give a unified approach.” Lee Sing said the Citizens 4D Highway group did not understand that the issue was not about content or suppressing freedoms but about understanding the acceptable standards.
“They see it as being creative. I hope that they are watching the comments on their social media to see the public’s reaction.” A quick check on the group’s Facebook page showed that while some commentators found their posts funny, others said they were distasteful. Minister of Communications Vasant Bharath has refused to comment on the contents of the advertisements but has repeatedly denied Government’s involvement.
Opposition Senator Faris Al-Rawi, who also found the posts distasteful, said they were demonstrative of a lack of courage on the part of the authors. “We note that the UNC (United National Congress) seems to have a very different trajectory and it is curious how quickly anonymous and distasteful material seem to find itself in the public domain in support of any UNC cause celebre.”
He said while the ads may have no connection to the Government, its proximity to the Government through the utilisation of one of its public relations companies caused suspicion. The ads are being placed by the Ross Advertising agency. General election advertising was also an issue of concern to both the TTPBA and the Advertising Agencies Association of T&T (AAATT).