ING Turkey fined for encouraging children talking to strangers


Turkey's advertisement watchdog fined ING Turkey 220,000 Turkish liras ($88,000) on Tuesday for encouraging children talking to strangers in an Orange Account advertisement, while deciding for its suspension.According to the article published in Turkish daily Hürriyet, Advertisement Board of Turkey's Ministry of Customs and Trade found the bank's advertisement incompatible with the Commercial Advertisement Regulation's related article on child protection, as it creates the perception that children may enter a dialogue with strangers when their parents are not around.The board also fined the company because the advertisement used a small child for persuasive expressions aimed at parents and others for products inappropriate for the same age group.The ad portrays four children aged five to six years old playing with glass marbles approached by an adult who approaches them and tells them not to disperse the group of marbles in reference to savings in deposit accounts. One of the kids reply back to the man saying his father has an Orange Account that allows withdrawing money whenever he needs.Using over-night interest rate principle, Orange Account is ING's flagship product, while being widely used throughout the world, especially in online banking.