task 4 - regulation of advertisements
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TASK 4 – Regulation of Advertisements
This provides evidence for: Unit 30: P1,M1,D1 and Unit 2: P1,M1,D1
Your Task
TASK 4 – Regulation
Advertising needs to be regulated. Regulation takes place through two main bodies, the ASA and OFCOM. Write a detailed account of the following:
•What the ASA/Ofcom does•What types of advertising does the ASA/Ofcom cover?•How does the ASA/Ofcom respond to complaints?•Give some examples of the codes for TV advertisingInclude two case studies:
This provides evidence for: Unit 30: P1,M1,D1 and Unit 2: P1,M1,D1
1)Give an example of a particularly controversial advertisement that ASA/Ofcom have had to deal with. Include; the advert (if you can find it), details of why the advert was deemed to be unsuitable, who decided it was unsuitable and any other information around the case (did people complain, was there a copycat incident)
2) Give an example of a recent advert that has been removed from the air. Include, the advert (if you can find it),why the advert was deemed to be unsuitable, who decided it was unsuitable and any other information around the case (did people complain, was there a copycat incident).
You will find links to each website on the BTEC Blog
What is the pointof advertising?• Companies, charities and the government spentnearly £16 bn on advertising their products andservices in the UK in 2011.
What does advertising do?
Why do advertisers think it is worth spending somuch money on it?
Advertising helps promote andstimulate competition.Advertising draws attention to a product or service.Advertising tells consumers how much things cost.Advertising keeps consumers up to datewith new developments.Advertising makes us aware of different brands.Advertising helps fund media.There are 20,000 jobs in the advertising industry.Advertising helps fund culture and sport.Advertising helps businesses make a profit.Advertising tells consumers what thingsthey must have.Advertising helps change society’s behaviour.Advertising makes us loyal to certain brands.Advertising tells us where to accessproducts and services.Advertising warns people aboutdangerous activities.Advertising can be funny and entertaining.
Why Regulation is important.Advertising is an essential part of modern life and a moderneconomy – informing consumers about the things availableto them, giving them vital information, and persuading themin a lively way about the merits of particular products andservices.
But it’s very important that this information isaccurate, and doesn’t mislead, and can be trusted by theconsumers who see or hear it.
Ofcom• The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the
government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom.
• Ofcom has wide-ranging powers across the television, radio, telecoms and postal sectors. It has a statutory duty to represent the interests of citizens and consumers by promoting competition and protecting the public from what might be considered harmful or offensive material. Some of the main areas Ofcom presides over are licensing, research, codes and policies, complaints, competition and protecting the radio spectrum from abuse
Ofcom• When dealing with advertisements, Ofcom will often direct you to the
ASA which specifically regulates advertisements.
• Type in advertisements on the right hand page of the link below.
• http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/tell-us/
The ASAEnsuring that advertising can be trusted is where theAdvertising Standards Authority comes in. The ASAstarted 50 years ago, and its job is: to ensure that advertising in all forms of media – from newspapers,magazines and billboards through to television, radio andthe internet – is legal, decent, honest and truthful. If an advert fails those tests, then the advertising is either amendedor withdrawn
The work of the Advertising StandardsAuthority (ASA) covers advertisements in:
• • Magazines and newspapers• • Radio and TV• • Television shopping channels• • Posters• • Cinema• • Direct mail (advertising sent through the• post and addressed to you personally)• • Internet, including a company’s own• marketing on its own website or social• networking page, as well as in paid-for space• • Leaflets and brochures• • Commercial email and mobile messages• • CD ROMs, DVDs, videos and faxes• • Sales promotions (special offers, prize draws• and competitions)
The work of the Advertising StandardsAuthority (ASA) does not cover:
• Sponsorship e.g. of events or TV programmes• Packaging• •Shop windows• Telephone calls• Fly-posting• Private classified ads• Statutory / public notices• Press releases• Political ads• Online editorial
The following products have specific rules …• under the Advertising Codes, as to how they can be advertised to
consumers.• Alcohol• Gambling• Food and soft drinks• Health and beauty products• Tobacco
There are also Code rules that relate to:• Harm and offence• Environmental claims• Racism• Children and advertising• Scheduling ads at appropriate times• Displaying ads in appropriate places• Misleading claims
Accurate or Offensive?The Advertising Codes ASA apply to adverts concentrateparticularly on two things.
1) Is the advert inaccurate ormisleading?
2) Might it cause offence to peopleseeing it, or could it cause harm to anyone, especiallyto children?
Role of the ASAThe Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) works to makesure that all UK advertising is legal, decent, honest andtruthful.
It is funded by a levy on advertising space, butoperates independently from advertisers and the government.
Role of ASAAs well as proactively checking ads from the many millionsthat appear every year in the UK, the ASA acts on complaintsto make sure that consumers are protected from misleading,harmful or offensive ads.
Even a single complaint can lead to a formal investigation and an ad being withdrawn.
You can complain to the ASA if you:Think there is something wrong with an advertisementyou have seen or heard
Have difficulty getting goods or a refund for items boughtby mail order or through television shopping channels
Think a special offer or prize promotion has beenunfairly run
Continued ……..
ComplaintsWant to stop direct mail from companies sent by post,fax, text message or email
Think there is something wrong with the marketing ona company’s website or their social network site.
In 2011:
The ASA handled 31,458 complaints about 22,397different adverts.
They judged that 4,591 ads had to be either changed or withdrawn.
Nearly 94% of the complaints came from members of the public.
Who writes the rules?• The ASA judges ads against the UK Advertising Codes.*
• The Advertising Codes are written by the advertising industry through the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP).
The members of these committees are drawn from the main industry bodies representing advertisers, agencies and media owners.
The Advertising Codes• The Advertising Codes contain wide-ranging rules designed to
ensurethat advertising does not mislead, harm or offend and is socially responsible, whatever the product being advertised.
The Codes reflect the law and in places go well beyond it. The Codes also contain specific rules for certain products and marketing techniques to cover…..
What is covered • Alcoholic drinks, • Health and beauty claims,• Marketing to children, • Medicines, • Financial products, • Environmental claims, • Gambling,• Direct marketing and prize promotions.
• The ASA works on the principle that advertisers must adhere to the spirit as well as the letter of the rules, makingit almost impossible for advertisers to find loopholes.
Who judges the ads?The ASA Council is the jury responsible for decidingwhether ads have breached the Advertising Codes.
Two-thirds of the Council members are independent of the advertising industry and the remaining members have a professional background in the advertising or media sectors.
Collectively they offer a wide range of skills and experiences, representing perspectives across society, including young people, families, charities and consumer groups.
Two bodies with a shared goal to keepadvertising legal, decent, honest and truthful.
• CAP – writes the advertising codes
•ASA - assesses if ads breach the Advertising Codes
Further research …Visit the ASA website for detailed information on the role of the ASA and rulings on the complaints they have received
The Advertising Codes are available on the CAP website ‘How to make a complaint’.
This advertisement would no longer be allowed.
Regulationsaround advertising tobacco productshave tightened over time.
Craven ‘A’, 1930sWhat is this advertising?What claims are being made for the product?What image is it portraying?Could a company make the same claimsfor this product today? Why? Why not?
Timeline for Cigarette Advertising• 1965 – Cigarette advertising is banned on television (cigars and loose
tobacco can continue to be advertised until the early 1990s).
• 1975 – New rules for other types of cigarette advertising introduced, along with pre-vetting.
• 2003 – The Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002 came into force, prohibiting the advertising and promotion of tobacco products. It does not, however, cover ads for rolling papers or filters.• Find out more about the Code rules:
Cigarette Advertising. Look up …….
• http://www.cap.org.uk/Advertising-Codes/Non-broadcast-HTML/Section-21-Tobacco,-rolling-papers-and-filters.aspx
Maltesers, 1950’s Advert.
“Choose the chocolates thatcan help you keep slim...”
What is this advertising?
What claims are being madefor the product?
What image is it portraying?
Could a company makethe same claims for thisproduct today?Why? Why not?
Maltesers• The ad for Maltesers, with its claim that “It’s the chocolate that can
help you stay slim”, would also now fall foul of Advertising Codes.
• In October 2008 the ASA upheld complaints about a TV advertisement for Maltesers on the grounds that saying the chocolates were “less than 11 calories each” gave the
misleading impression that Maltesers were a low-energy food.
Look up ……..• The ruling on this case:• http://
www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications/2008/10/Mars-UK-Ltd/TF_ADJ_45143.aspx
• Misleading advertising:• http://www.cap.org.uk/Advertising-Codes/Non-broadcast-HTML/Secti
on-15-Food,-food-supplements-and-associated-health-or-nutritional-claims.aspx
You be the judge• Paddy Power plc – July 2010
The Advert For Paddy Power• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ispFw6THxtg
• What do you think? Why?
What happened?• 1,089 viewers objected to this ad.
• 220 viewers objected that the ad was offensive to blind people; and 1,070 viewers objected that the ad was offensive and harmful, because it might encourage or condone cruelty to animals
ASA Verdict• Paddy Power plc – July 2010• Not upheld• The ASA said it was not offensive in itself to create an advert referring to people with a disability.• Paddy Power said it featured an action “so unlikely that it was absurd”.• Paddy Power said the advert did not show the cat being kicked or suffering any violence or
cruelty. It was clearly and deliberately shown to be unharmed at the end of the item.• Paddy Power had chosen a blind football match to promote a lesser-known sport – the World
Blind Football Championships were going to take place in 2010. • Paddy Power produced a letter of support from the manager of the England Blind Football
Team.• All the players in the ad were actual blind football players, many of whom had represented the
national side.
The ASA’s final decision was….
• 1. The action in the ad would be interpreted by most viewers as a humorous depiction of a fictional situation, with the humour derived from surreal and improbable circumstances, when an unforeseeable and accidental action occurred.
• 2. It was unlikely to be seen by most viewers as malicious or implying that blind people were likely to cause harm to animals whilst playing football.
• 3. The ad was unlikely to be seen as humiliating, stigmatising or undermining to blind people and was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence.
How much do adverts influence children and young people?• The size of the UK market for products aimed at children and young
people is large and growing.
• Children and young people often have an influence on family spending, including over what goods are bought for the home as well as products they want to own for themselves.
Advertising to Children• There are strict rules on how goods and services are marketed to children
and young people so that they are protected from unfair pressure to buy products and aren’t encouraged to engage in dangerous behaviour.
• Adverts must not undermine parental authority, although a recent report, commissioned by the Government, “The Bailey Review”, found that some parents in the UK are concerned by the increasing commercialisation of modern childhood, resulting in children and young people feeling under pressure to have specific branded clothes and consumer items in order to “fit in” with their peers.
Children• The Advertising Codes class a child as someone under the age of 16.
• See the CAP website for the rules relating to advertising and children.
Brand Bullying• What do you think about “Brand bullying” – being bullied or
stigmatised for not having the “right” labels, clothes, accessories or gadgets?
• Do you find it a problem?
Right or wrong?• 1. Violence being shown as humorous?
• 2. Advertising alcohol around children’s Programmes?
• 3. Advertising gambling at tea time?
• 4. Using a children’s TV celebrity to advertise fast food?
• 5. Images of guns being brandished in an aggressive manner?
Right or Wrong?• 1. Advertising alcohol as something that can make you attractive.• Strict guidelines say advertisements can’t link alcohol with seduction,
sex or social success.• 2. Advertising high-fat, high-sugar and high-salt food or drinks
around children’s programmes.• This is not allowed around children’s programmes.
Right or Wrong?3. Advertising slimming products on daytime TV. This is not a problem in itself, but there are rules on the claims thatcan be made for slimming products, no matter where and when they are advertised. Claims must be truthful and advertisers must hold evidence to back up their claims.
Right or Wrong?• 4. Advertising skin cream to permanently reduce wrinkles.• This would be allowed if the advertiser has evidence it works. It’s not
allowed at the moment because no creams are proven to do that!• 5. Advertising skin cream to reduce wrinkles using a Photoshopped
model.• This is not allowed. Even claiming temporarily to reduce the
appearance of wrinkles would be a problem. See this recent ASA ruling of a L’Oréaladvertisement featuring Julia Roberts.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO5HvMOGjpg
Right or Wrong?• 6. Advertising sexy underwear on a bus stop poster. Advertising sexy underwear on a bus stop poster – may prompt the ASA to ask for changes if the ad is regarded as too sexual.
• 7. Advertising sexy underwear on a bus stop poster outside a school.Advertising sexy underwear on a bus stop poster outsidea school – may prompt the ASA to ask for changes in content or a change of location.
Right or Wrong?• 8. Advertising a sports drink as healthier than water.• This is not allowed because it is against good dietary advice.• See recent ASA ruling.
• 9. Advertising a clothes label using skinny models.• Doing this can cause complaints from the public. However, the
complaints are not always upheld. It depends on whether the model is just slim or is unhealthily underweight.
Offensive or not?• The advert says ‘Nice headlamps’. What do you look for in a car.
The ASA said:“This was a poster ad. 44 complainants challengedwhether the poster was offensive, because it objectifiedwomen, degraded them and was sexist. Somecomplainants also considered that the poster impliedthat women, like cars, were commodities to be boughtand sold.What do you think?
Do you agree with the ruling?
• The ASA agreed with the complainants that the image of the woman’s cleavage coupled with the strapline ‘Nice Headlamps. What do you look for in a car?’ was likely to be seen to objectify and degrade women by linking attributes of a woman, her cleavage, to attributes of a car, the headlamps, in a way that would be seen to imply a woman, like a car, was to be ‘selected’ for those attributes.
• They concluded that the poster had caused serious offence to some readers and was likely to cause widespread offence.”
Banned BT Infinity Advert• http://
www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/bt-infinity-advert-fibre-broadband-126817
Controversial adverts• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCe895fRny8
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqbcYbq13Ow
• ASA 10 most complained about adverts 2008.• http://
www.theguardian.com/media/organgrinder/2009/apr/29/asa-most-complained-about-adverts-2008
Your Task
TASK 4 – Regulation
Advertising needs to be regulated. Regulation takes place through two main bodies, the ASA and OFCOM. Write a detailed account of the following:
•What the ASA/Ofcom does•What types of advertising does the ASA/Ofcom cover?•How does the ASA/Ofcom respond to complaints?•Give some examples of the codes for TV advertisingInclude two case studies:
This provides evidence for: Unit 30: P1,M1,D1 and Unit 2: P1,M1,D1
1)Give an example of a particularly controversial advertisement that ASA/Ofcom have had to deal with. Include; the advert (if you can find it), details of why the advert was deemed to be unsuitable, who decided it was unsuitable and any other information around the case (did people complain, was there a copycat incident)
2) Give an example of a recent advert that has been removed from the air. Include, the advert (if you can find it),why the advert was deemed to be unsuitable, who decided it was unsuitable and any other information around the case (did people complain, was there a copycat incident).
You will find links to each website on the BTEC Blog