This document discusses regulatory bodies such as the ASA and OFCOM that set rules for advertising in the UK. It specifically discusses how the rules around misleading claims, offensive content, and protecting audiences impact an advert for a water brand called Vesi. The advert aims to positively represent diversity in terms of race, gender, age, and sexuality to make all audiences feel included. However, it only targets physically active people, which could exclude some. Legal issues around copyright and intellectual property are also discussed.

1. ADVERT: LEGAL & ETHICAL, REGULATORY BODIES
What are possible effects of your advert on your target
audience?
THEORY/EFFECT EXPLAIN WHAT THIS IS EXPLAIN how this theory
impacts your advert?
HYPODERMIC NEEDLE
THEORY
When information is given
to audiences, and they
accept it and consume it.
This theory impacts my
advert since I am giving
information to audiences
about Vesi water and its
benefits.
TWO STEP FLOW People base their opinions
on the “opinion leader” –
people are influenced.
This effects my advert due
to the people we use to
share Vesi information with
– for example, an
influencer or well known
celebrity can easily
persuade their fanbases
about Vesi water.
USES AND
GRATIFICATIONS
The uses and gratification
theory explains how people
seek out specific aspects
of media and the reason
why they seek the aspects
out. For example,
entertainment, education
and personal identity.
The information and
content given out in my
advert will educate
audiences on the beneficial
side of Vesi and educate
audiences about the water
itself, and personal identity
impacts my advert – due to
the amount of
representation in my
advert, audiences will most
likely see themselves in the
models I use in my advert.
WHAT ARE THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF YOUR ADVERT ON AN AUDIENCE?
One positive effect of my advert on an audience is that I have included a diverse selection of
people to advertise my product. For example, I have included people of different ages,
gender, race and size, so that everyone feels involved and they feel welcomed to drink and
purchase Vesi. Another positive effect of my advert on an audience is that I have targeted the
target audience given to me by Vesi- gym enthusiasts and physical activity enthusiasts by
showing people playing multiple sports.
WHAT ARE THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF YOUR ADVERT ON AN AUDIENCE?

2. One negative effect I have in my advert however, is that I have targeted people who want to /
are doing physical activities like cardio or playing sports - some people do not want / like
doing these certain activities and may feel like I am excluding them from the Vesi product.
ISSUES OF REPRESENTATION
WHO/WHAT IS BEING
REPRESENTED
WOULD THIS BE CONSIDERED A POSITIVE OR
NEGATIVE REPRESENTATION- EXPLAIN
Race This is considered a positive representation, because if only
white people were represented, people can mistake this as
an act of racism. It is important to have a diverse race
representation, so everyone feels included and people don’t
feel discriminated against.
Gender This is again, considered a positive representation so
everyone is included and by including both genders, people
feel welcomed to try the product due to seeing people who
are the same gender as them using the product.
Age Positive – all people used in my advert are ages of the target
audience, so again, audiences will see people around their
age range drinking the product and feel welcomed and
included to do the same.
Sexuality Positive – LGBTQ+ representation once more makes people
feel welcomed and no discriminated against to use the
product – in my advert, no sexuality is confirmed so there is
no speculation or discriminated.
Does your advert conform to mainstream representations, or does it challenge
representations?
Even though my advert includes different types of representation, most of it is mainstream.
Although, you could say the daughter wearing football kit and playing football is a challenging
representation, since football is seen as a sport that mostly men play.

3. LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES
LEGAL Explain the issue: How could this impact your
advert?
Copyright:
Content such as music that
doesn’t belong to a certain
company using the content
and hasn’t been given
permission to use by the
original creator.
This could impact my advert
because my advert could get taken
down in certain countries due to the
music I use if I do not get
permission from the original creator.
Intellectual
Property Rights
Rights given to a person about
their original creations, such as
logos, inventions, designs,
symbols, and names.
Both the company and advert could
get sued if the content and
creations I use are similar/the same
as creations already created, like
symbols and logo designs.
ETHICAL –
Offensive material
Explain the issue: How could this impact your
advert?
Violence/sex/langu
age: Offensive and/or graphic
content that cannot be shown
in adverts due to the risk of
younger audiences.
My advert could get rejected and
taken down if offensive content is
used. Due to the rules ASA set up, I
cannot show offensive content in
my advert and if I do, my advert is
guaranteed not to be accepted or
broadcasted.
Children:
If offensive content such as
violence/sex/language is
exposed to children this can
have a negative effect on them
– children should not be
exposed to such content at
such a young age,
Since my target audience does not
include children, younger audiences
should not be impacted or effected
by my advert. Although, since my
advert will still be shown, children
will most likely see it anyway, so I
cannot use content seen as
offensive as there is a risk of
children seeing the advert.
REGULATORY BODIES
ASA

4. Who are the ASA?
The Advertising Standards Authority is the UKs independent regulator of advertising of
all media.
What role does the ASA perform?
ASA makes sure adverts across the UK sticks to the rules of advertising – such as not
showing offensive content.
Why does the ASA exist?
To prevent adverts not following the rules and children being exposed to vulgar content
in the adverts.
What rules does the ASA set that have to be followed by institutions?
One rule that ASA has set up is for adverts not to mislead, and that the claims adverts
set up should be supported with evidence. Ads should not offend, and should not show
graphic content, like violence, language or sex.
HOW DO THESE RULES HAVE A DIRECT EFFECT UPON YOUR ADVERT?
EXAMPLE 1: (LEGAL)
The rules “adverts must not mislead” effects my adverts as we must support Vesi’s
health benefits on consumers with evidence or we are misleading audiences and not
being truthful.
EXAMPLE 1: (ETHICAL)
The “ads should not show offensive content” effects my advert due to the fact I cannot
and have not shown any offensive content like violence, language or sex.
Recreate table and find info on:
OFCOM
OFCOM
Who are OFCOM?
OFCOM are the UK’s communications regulator.
What role does OFCOM perform?
OFCOM regulates TV, radio, broadbands, home phones and mobile phones. They also
oversee the universal postal service. They also look after airwaves. They make sure
people don’t get scammed and protect people from bad practices – this is important for
vulnerable younger people and older people. OFCOM also sometimes promotes
competition among companies they regulate.
Why does OFCOM exist?
OFCOM exists to regulate over things like mobile phones, home phones, broadbands,
TV and radio and even walkie talkies and protects the public from scammers.
What rules does OFCOM set that have to be followed by institutions?
OFCOM have set up restrictions against offensive content being shown, advertisements
must be truthful, and they have also set up technical standards like audio quality.
HOW DO THESE RULES HAVE A DIRECT EFFECT UPON YOUR ADVERT?
EXAMPLE 1: (LEGAL)
They have set up a rule for advertisements to be truthful, so I must make sure the
information given out in my advert is truthful and not misleading.
EXAMPLE 1: (ETHICAL)
OFCOM have set up restrictions on offensive content shown in adverts, so I am not
allowed, and I will not show offensive content in my adverts that can potentially harm
my audiences.