Charge against Astra for ban on field advertising

Thomas Stutz, himself a trained farmer and active in field advertising for years with the company Greenworks in Althäusern AG, accuses the Astra of official misconduct, abuse of authority, one-sided favoritism and official arbitrariness. He confirmed on Wednesday on request of the SDA a report in the newspaper Schweizer Bauer.

Field advertising - for example at airports or along railroad lines - allows farmers to earn an extra income. Field advertising is prohibited along highways. Andreas Aebi, a member of the Bern SVP National Council, had wanted to lift this ban with a parliamentary initiative. After the National Council initially approved the initiative in March 2009, it wrote off the proposal in March of this year due to legal and material contradictions.

This has now put Stutz on the spot. He criticizes that the Astra allows advertising posters attached to buildings along freeways that have nothing to do with - the permitted - company signage. Field advertising by farmers has been banned, he says, on the grounds that it is within the range of perception of vehicle drivers and could affect their concentration. Stutz does not understand why advertising on buildings or trucks should be allowed, but field advertising should not. In his view, Astra is measuring with two cubits. Stutz supports his accusations with several photographed examples, which he enclosed with the advertisement.

Stutz filed the complaint against Astra via the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland. However, the legal service of the Federal Office has not yet received anything, said Astra spokesman Michael Müller on request. Therefore, the office could not yet comment on the matter. (SDA)

> On the same topic in Advertising Week: Throwing in the ink.