Regulation of Advertising in the UK

By Jackalyn West

The Advertising Standards Authority.

The Advertising Standards Authority is the UK’s independent regulator of advertising across all media products. They apply the Advertising. Their work includes acting on complaints and checking the media to take action against misleading, harmful or offensive advert

Their mission is to ensure that advertising in all media is legal, decent, honest and truthful, to the benefit of consumers, business and society.

Their procedures are transparent and open to scrutiny. The ASA recognizes the importance of providing a service that

is accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities. No media products can be published without ASA’s consent.

How is the ASA funded and what exactly does it do???

Self-regulation means that the industry is voluntarily established and has paid for its own regulation.

This kind of system works as it is powered by a sense of social responsibility amongst the advertising industries.

Advertisers have interest in maintaining this system because: They make sure that consumers are not harmed or offended by

their work and it helps to maintain consumer confidence in their advertising.

It maintains a level playing field amongst businesses. Maintaining the self-regulatory system will be more cost-

effecting for advertisers than paying legal costs of a court case. ASA would take down a media product if there are many

complaints. They work together with CAP to help advertisers get there media

product right before it is published.

How does self-regulation of non-broadcasting advertising work????

Barnardo’s Complaint

This picture has a baby lying down on a fur blanket with a silver spoon in its mouth. The silver spoon symbolises that the baby will have a happy, healthy childhood and upbringing.

The target audience for this advert is for parents who care for their children to raise money for babies.

The silver spoon signifies that the child will have a happy and safe upbringing.

This advert shows a new born baby drinking methylated spirit. You can see that is child is suffering horribly.

This advert is for parents who would hate their own child/children to suffer like this so much that they would give money.Also this could be aimed at adults.

The baby is wearing a hospital tag which shows that this baby is a new born baby.

This advert is different to the first one and we can see that in the title “there are no silver spoons for children born into poverty”.

The baby has a cockroach in its mouth symbolising that it will have a bad childhood and upbringing.

The baby has a hospital tag on its arm showing that it is a new born baby.

We can see that the baby is suffering due to its facial expressions.

In this advert, we can see that the baby has a syringe full of either drugs or blood in its mouth.The baby is crying, though no tears are coming out, and we can see that the baby is suffering.

This advert would be aimed at parents who would not like to see there children suffer and would give money to stop children suffering.

The baby is wearing a hospital tag which shows that the baby is a new born.

The syringe signifies that the child will have a bad upbringing.

Tesco Complaint

UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising (CAP Code)

The Code applies to: Advertisements in newspapers, magazines, brochures, leaflets,

circulars, mailing, and other electrical or printed material. Posters and other promotional media in public places, including

moving images. Cinema, video, DVD and Blu-ray advertisements. Advertisements in non-broadcast electronic media. Marketing databases containing consumers’ personal information Sales promotions in non-broadcast media. Advertorials Advertisements and there marketing communicators by or from

companies, organisations or sole traders on their own websites, or in other non-paid-for space online under their control, that are directly connected with the supply or transfer of goods, services, opportunities and gifts, or which consist of direct solicitations of donations as part of their own fund-raising activities.

What does the Code apply to???

The central principle for all marketing communications is that they should be legal, decent, honest and truthful. All marketing communications should be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and society and should reflect the spirit, not merely the letter, of the Code.

What are the central principles of the code???

The basic rules are: Marketing communications must be obviously

identifiable as such. Marketing communications must not falsely

claim the marketer is acting as a consumer or for purposes outside its trade, business, craft or profession, marketing communications must make clear their commercial intent, if that is not obvious from the context.

Marketers and publishers must make clear that advertorials are marketing communications.

What are the basic rules of compliance for the code???

There are two types of sections that CAP covers. They are General Sections and Specific Category sections.

List all the different sections of advertising which the code covers.

The General Sections includes: Compliance Recognition of marketing communications Misleading Advertising Harm and Offence Children Privacy Political Advertisements Sales Promotions Distance Selling Database Practise Environmental Claims

General Section

Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products

Weight control and slimming Financial products Food, food supplements and associated health or

nutrition claims Gambling Lotteries Alcohol Motoring Employment, homework schemes and business

opportunities Tobacco, rolling papers and filters

Specific Category

Marketers need to take account of the standards in society and the context in which marketing communicators is likely to appear to cut the risk of causing harm or serious or offence.

Harm and Offense

The way in which children react to marketing communications is influenced by their age, experience and context in which the message is delivered.

Children

Distance selling marketing communications are marketing communications that promote specific goods or services and include direct response mechanisms that allow readers to place orders without face-to-face contact with the marketer.

Distance Selling's

People should be protected from privacy. Marketers must not unfairly portray to

anyone in an offensive way unless that person has given the marketer written permission to allow it

Privacy