JD Sports has had a series of Nike ads banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) claiming they condone “irresponsible, unsafe” driving.

The ban follows more than 60 complaints made against JD Sports for a series of ads, posts and reels that ran across its Facebook channel.

The ads, which promoted JD Sports’ range of Nike Air Max clothing, showed images featuring motorcycle and quad bike riders wearing trainers and clothes from the range alongside riders wearing protective gear. Some images showed them performing stunts.

Complaints said the ads featured illegal and irresponsible road use, while others were ‘irresponsible’ for showing riders wearing trainers and athletic wear instead of protective equipment.

However, the retailer said the motorbikes were incidental, rather than central, to the ads. It also said the photos for the campaign were either taken within a private warehouse or on a closed road.

JD also said it did not believe the ads showed activities that broke the Highway Code, and that the focus was on the clothing and footwear rather than the motorbikes.

It also that said that consumers would recognise the shots were staged and would not be encouraged to copy the tricks. One of the ads included text warning consumers that the stunts were being performed by professionals and should not be tried at home.

But the ASA said the stunts shown in the ads would be “unsafe and irresponsible” if undertaken on public roads, where they appeared to take place.

The disclaimer text was held to be insufficient to guard against this.

The ASA said: “The CAP Code stated that marketing communications must not condone or encourage unsafe or irresponsible driving.The ASA acknowledged the road scenes had been filmed on closed public roads. However, we considered that would not have been apparent to viewers, as the roads shown were indistinguishable from open public roads.”