'Win your own funeral' contest legal, court rules
A Bavarian radio station was not in violation of the law when it ran a “win your own funeral” advertisement, a court ruled this week.
The Aschaffenburg station published a newspaper ad for the contest that read like an obituary on January 23 this year. Listeners were encouraged to send in their “last words” to be broadcast on air.
The person with the “coolest answer” would win funeral insurance worth €3,000, it said.
But the BDB German association of undertakers took the station to court, demanding the ad and its sponsor – a local funeral home – be banned.
But on Thursday the district court rejected the case, saying that an advertising campaign could not be prohibited on the grounds of bad taste, or because it offended certain parts of the community.
The advertisement was also not a violation of human dignity, the court said.
Instead the ad may have failed to clearly present the business deal between the radio station and the undertaker, the court said.
DPA/ka
Comments
See Also
The Aschaffenburg station published a newspaper ad for the contest that read like an obituary on January 23 this year. Listeners were encouraged to send in their “last words” to be broadcast on air.
The person with the “coolest answer” would win funeral insurance worth €3,000, it said.
But the BDB German association of undertakers took the station to court, demanding the ad and its sponsor – a local funeral home – be banned.
But on Thursday the district court rejected the case, saying that an advertising campaign could not be prohibited on the grounds of bad taste, or because it offended certain parts of the community.
The advertisement was also not a violation of human dignity, the court said.
Instead the ad may have failed to clearly present the business deal between the radio station and the undertaker, the court said.
DPA/ka
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.