UK bed firm's advert banned for associating migrants with coronavirus

Watchdog rules Vic Smith Beds ad offensive for saying 'no nasty imports' and using surgical mask image

A newspaper ad promoting British-made mattresses that warned of "nasty imports" alongside an image of a surgical mask has been banned by the advertising watchdog for associating immigrants with the spread of the coronavirus.

North London-based Vic Smith Beds ran an ad in a local paper featuring a cartoon image of an upright mattress with a Union Jack on the front wearing a green surgical mask.