This powerpoint is all about ASA and what they do

1. The Advertising Standards
Authority
Source:
https://www.asa.org.u
k/about-asa-and-
cap/about-
regulation/about-the-
asa-and-cap.html

2. About the ASA
• The ASA are passionate about what they do because they
believe responsible advertisements are good for people,
society and advertisers. Their mission is to make every UK ad a
responsible ad.
• They respond to concerns and complaints from consumers
and businesses and take action to ban ads which are
misleading, harmful, offensive or irresponsible. As well as
responding to complaints they monitor advertisements to
check that they are following the rules. They will also conduct
research to test public opinion and identify where they need
to take action to protect consumers.
• They have been administrating the non-broadcast Advertising
Code for over 50 years and the broadcast Advertising Code for
over 10. As a result of that work, 4,584 ads were either
changed or removed.

3. How the system works
• Advertisements in the UK are regulated through a system of
‘self-regulation’ and ‘co-regulation’.
• “Self-regulation means that the advertisement industry also
writes the rules (through CAP) that advertisers have to stick
on. Non-broadcast advertising, including newspapers, posters,
websites, social media, cinema, emails, leaflets, billboard, is
covered by self-regulation.”
• “Co-regulation is an arrangement the ASA have with the
communications regulator, Ofcom. It has given us
responsibility (a contract) on a day-to-day basis to regulate TV
and radio advertising. In 2014, Ofcom announced the renewal
of its co-regulatory relationship with the ASA for another ten
years.”

4. Regulating Ads
• The ASA responds to complaints but it also checks adverts
across different types of media. They do this to make sure
they’re sticking to the rules. They monitor adverts in different
sectors where there are potential consumer protection issues,
• Together with CAP, the ASA works to support the industry to
help them get their ads right before they are published. Last
year they provided a quarter million pieces of advice and
training for the industry, most of which was free of charge.

5. What happens before an ad is
published?
• The advertising Codes requires for advertisers hold
evidence to prove the claims that they make before they
are published or aired. They expect add advertisers to
follow the rules when creating their ad campaigns.

6. Pre-clearance for TV and radio
advertising
• The vast majority of TV and radio ads are pre-cleared before
they are broadcast. Under the licences broadcasters must take
reasonable steps to ensure that the ads they broadcast stick to
the UK code of Broadcast Advertising.
• To help advertisers do this, the broadcasters have established
and funded two pre-clearance centres:
• Clearcast for television commercials
• Radiocentre for radio ads.

7. Non-broadcast advertising
There are many millions of non-broadcast adverts published
every year in the UK, this makes it impossible to check every one
of them before they appear. For example, there are more than
30 million press advertisements and 100 million pieces of direct
marketing every year. CAP provides a range of advice, guidance
and training, including free pre-publication Copy Advice service.
ASA also encourages advertisers and anyone with any interest in
the rules and regulations or who is involved in producing ads to
sign up to their website to get insight and updates.

8. Regulation after an
advertisement has appeared
Despite many steps are being taken to ensure advertisements
are in line with the Codes before they are aired or published,
consumers have the right to complain about adverts they have
seen. These are what they believe are misleading, harmful or
offensive.
The ASA can act on just one complaint. They don’t play ‘the
numbers game’ their concern is whether the ad rules have been
broken.

9. Sanctions
ASA has universal coverage across the advertising industry. The
advertisers cannot opt out of them. If the ASA has judged an ad
has broken the advertising rules, then it must be withdrawn or
amended. The vast majority of advertisers stick to the ASA’s
ruling and they act quickly to amend or withdraw an ad that
breaks the Codes.
The ASA has a range of sanctions to act against the small
number of advertisers who are either unwilling or unable to
work within the rules and to ensure they are brought into line.