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A TV commercial for a personal loan company broke advertising rules because it implied borrowing large sums of money could be treated lightly, the industry watchdog ruled today.

The ad showed a mother walking around her house being interrupted by family members as she tried to arrange a loan by phone.

She told the loan adviser on the other end of the phone: 'Don't worry it's always like this here. But at least I can get my credit sorted. We'd like to borrow £25,000.'

Six viewers complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that the advert was misleading because it portrayed borrowing large sums of money as an everyday occurrence that could be treated lightly.

The Picture Financial Services commercial included several on-screen warnings about the nature of the service, the typical APR, monthly repayment amounts, length of repayments and total amount repayable on a £25,000 loan.

But the ASA said consolidating unsecured loans into a single loan was a 'serious step' which needed 'careful consideration'. It said the Picture commercial breached advertising rules, saying: 'We considered that the light-hearted tone of the ad, including the interruptions from family members, suggested that the decision to take out the secured loan had not been carefully considered and that it was an everyday occurrence.'

The ASA told Picture not to broadcast the commercial again in its current form. Responding to the watchdog, Picture said it did not view credit agreements as something to be taken lightly and did want to suggest that it did in adverts.

The commercial was meant to show in a light-hearted way the busy lifestyles and conflicting demands faced by customers daily which made it difficult for them to sort out things like finances, it said.

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