ASA Advertising Standards Agency By Louise Laws

What does the ASA represent?

The Advertising Standards Authority is the UKs independent regulator of advertising across all media. They apply the Advertising Codes, which are written by the Committees of Advertising Practice. Their work includes acting on complaints and proactively checking the media to take action against misleading, harmful or offensive advertisements.

What is their role and function?

Its role is to "regulate the content of advertisements, sales promotions and direct marketing in the UK by investigating "complaints made about ads, sales promotions or direct marketing", and deciding whether such advertising complies with its advertising standards codes. These codes stipulate that "before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove all claims, whether direct or implied, that are capable of objective substantiation and that "no marketing communication should mislead, or be likely to mislead, by inaccuracy, ambiguity, exaggeration, omission or otherwise".

What are CAP codes?

The UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (CAP Code) is the rule book for non-broadcast advertisements, sales promotions and direct marketing communications in the United Kingdom, and is administered by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The 12th edition of the CAP Code came into force in September 2010. The 12th version was released because the digital remit of the ASA was to be extended to cover online marketing communications, for example banner advertising, popup windows, pay-per-click campaigns, social media and online video. Website owners were given a 6 month period of grace to ensure that their websites and online marketing comply with the new CAP Code rules. The rules came into full force on 1 March 2011. They include general rules that state advertising must be responsible, must not mislead, or offend and specific rules that cover advertising to children and ads for specific sectors like alcohol, gambling, motoring, health and financial products.

How is the ASA important in advertising?

Self-regulation means that the industry has voluntarily established and paid for its own regulation. The system works because it is powered and driven by a sense of corporate social responsibility amongst the advertising industry. Advertisers have an interest in maintaining the system because: Making sure that consumers are not misled, harmed or offended by ads helps to maintain consumer confidence in advertising. Advertising that is welcomed by consumers is good for business. It maintains a level playing field amongst businesses. It is important for fair competition that all advertisers play by the same rules. Maintaining the self-regulatory system is much more cost-effective for advertisers than paying the legal costs of a court case.

The role of the industry is to write the Advertising Codes, help advertisers to comply with the rules and to pay for the system. However, the industry does not administer its own rules. It has established the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) as the independent adjudicator. Advertising self-regulation is flexible in its scope and is able to adapt to market conditions. This is particularly important in the fast-moving advertising industry. The Code reflects requirements in law, but also contains many rules that are not required by law at all. The advertising industry has chosen to exercise this self-restraint not only to make further legislation unnecessary, but also as a public demonstration of its commitment to high standards in advertising. Because the system works successfully, the UK Government has not needed to regulate directly. However, that doesnt mean that the views of politicians or civil society and the wider industry - on advertising regulation are unimportant, so we actively seek out their views on our work.

Interaction with the law:

How the ASA are important in advertising cont.

Across the European Union (EU) there is a unified piece of consumer protection legislation to prevent the use of misleading or unfair trading practices. This law, called the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, has been translated into UK law to make sure that we have the same rules as all the other countries in the EU. The ASA works within this legal framework to make sure that UK advertising is not misleading or unfair. The ASA is able to refer advertisers who refuse to work with us and persistently make misleading claims to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for legal action. The OFT is able to act under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, which governs how businesses interact with consumers and the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008, which govern how businesses advertise to each other. The ASA is considered the established means for gaining compliance with both these pieces of legislation. This means that the law itself is not usually enforced formally through the courts; instead the ASA is first allowed to tackle any problems under the Advertising Codes. This approach works well in the overwhelming majority of cases. The ASA is able to take action quickly and this avoids clogging up our court system. Referral is rarely necessary, as most advertisers prefer to work with the self-regulatory system. Since 2000 around 30 advertisers have been referred to the OFT; in the same period the ASA has dealt with around 250,000 complaints.

Examples of banned TV Adverts

Example 1 - Beauty is nothing without brains: A Mercedes Benz car Advert was banned for poking fun at blondes after showing a blonde woman trying to order fries, a burger and a milkshake from a library. It was thought to be somewhat sexist. Example 2 Dont forget its Diesel: It probably comes as no surprise that a Volkswagen advert featuring a sweet little girl using the word Bollocks when she drops her ice cream and spills her paints was banned shortly after being shown in the cinema. Example 3 JesusHatesObama.com: Fox News doesn't exactly mind Letting guests badmouth the president, but the network drew the line at Having Jesus do it during last year's Super Bowl. In the offending commercial, which was produced by the conservative tchotchke-selling website JesusHatesObama.com, a disdainful Jesus bobblehead sneers at an Obama doll while "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" plays in the background. When little Obama falls head-first into A fishbowl, Jesus smiles his approval and flashes his unloving message. In other words, this ad didn't have a prayer.