Lloyds Banking Group has been censured by the advertising regulator for a national press campaign that implied it had donated £19.5 billion to social housing, when in fact the figure referred to commercial lending and investment.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld a complaint against the bank over a full-page advert that ran in The Times on 25 March. The ad featured the bank’s black horse galloping past new homes under construction, alongside the headline: “£19.5 billion for social housing. And that’s just the start.” Smaller text added: “Everyone deserves a safe place to call home. That’s why we’ve provided £19.5 billion to the social housing sector since 2018.”
A complainant argued that the wording misleadingly suggested the sum had been given as a charitable donation. Lloyds said the campaign was aimed at corporate stakeholders, policymakers and industry audiences rather than the general public, and that the average Times reader would understand the figure referred to loans and funding rather than philanthropy.
The bank stressed that it is the UK’s largest financial services provider and not a charitable organisation, noting that it had referenced the “£20 billion” of sector funding in its 2024 annual report. It added that the term “provided” was deliberately chosen as a neutral descriptor of its role as a lender.
BREACH OF CODE
However, the ASA ruled that the overall presentation of the ad created the impression that Lloyds had made a direct charitable contribution. It pointed to the language used, the framing of the message as a social mission and the imagery of housing construction, all of which suggested that the money had been given on a non-commercial basis.
The regulator concluded that the advert breached the UK Advertising Code rules on misleading advertising and ordered that it must not appear again in the same form.
In its ruling, the ASA instructed Lloyds to ensure that future campaigns did not omit material information and to avoid wording that could imply charitable donations when promoting commercial financing.
Read the full ruling HERE.
