Task 4 - Regulation

Why is Regulation Important?

Advertising is everywhere in modern society and is a big part of the economy. This tells consumers about the things that are available to buy giving them information about the product. In these advertisements it gives people information in the hopes that it would persuade them to buy the product or use the service. However, it is very important that the information provided is not misleading or inaccurate, and can be trusted by the people who hear or see it.

Ofcom and ASA

The office of communication, 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. When dealing with advertisements, ofcom will often direct you to the ASA which specifically regulates advertisements.
Ensuring that advertising can be trusted is where the Advertising Standards Authority comes in. The ASA started 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 and the internet - is legal, descent, honest and thruthful. If an advert fails those tests, then the advertising is either amended or withdrawn.
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 it's own website or social networking page, as well as in paid-for space
• leaflets and brochures 
• Commercial email and mobile messages 
• CD ROMS's, DVD's, videos and faxes 
• Sales promotions (special offers, prize draws and competitions)

Some things that the ASA does not cover will include;

• Sponsorship e.g. of events or TV programmes
• Packaging
• Shop windows 
• Telephone calls
• Fly-posting
• Private classified ads
• Statutory / public notices 
• Press releases
• Online editorial

The following products have specific rule; 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

The Advertising Codes ASA apply to adverts concentrate particularly on two things.

1 - Is the advert inaccurate or misleading?

2 - Might it cause offence to people seeing it, or could it cause harm to anyone, especially to children?

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) works to make sure that all UK advertising is legal, descent, honest and truthful.

It is funded by a levy on advertising space, but operates independently from advertisers and the government. As well as proactively checking ads from the many millions that appear every year in the UK, and ASA acts on complaints to 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.

The ASA handled 31,458 complaints about 22,397 different adverts. They judges that 4,591 ads had to be either changed or withdrawn. Nearly 94% of the complaints came from members of the public. The ASA judges ads against the UK Advertising Codes.* The Advertising Codes are written by the advertising industry through the committee of Advertising Practise (CAP) and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practise (BCAP).

The members of these committees are drawn from the main industry bodies representing advertisers, agencies and media owners.

These committees cover;

• 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 spirits as well as the letter of the rules, making it almost impossible for advertisers to find loopholes.

The ASA Council is the jury responsible for deciding whether 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 advertisements 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 keep advertising legal, descent, honest and truthful.

• CAP - writes the advertising codes
• ASA - assesses if ads breach Advertising Codes

Timeline for Cigarette Advertising

• 1965 - Cigarette advertising is banned on television (cigars and loose tobacco can continue to be advertised until the early 1990s).
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