1. PR10 ASA
The ASA stands for Advertising Standards Authority. What the ASA does it to make sure that
the adverts that are broadcasted on TV &Radio are legal and make sure they are suitable
for the specific audiences , to make sure that they don’t offend anyone, and that the rules
for advertising aren’t broke. They also attend to complaints made about different adverts to
which they try to fix, to make sure no more people are offended. The ASA regulate under a
contract from Ofcom. The advertising regulatory systemin the UK is a mixture of :
1. Self-regulation for Non- broadcast advertising
2. Co-regulation for broadcast advertising
The ASA regularly check all the adverts that are put out to the public , the deal with
complaints as well as making sure that the adverts aren’t breaking any rules, and that they
aren’t falsely advertising anything also to make sure that no more complaints will be made
about them.
The ASA follow codes written by the Committee of Advertising Practise and The Broadcast
Committee of advertising Practise. The committee of advertising practise write the codes for
Non-broadcasting advertising, sales promotions and direct marketing. The broadcast
committee of advertising practise write the codes for broadcast advertising. There is a list of
rules that the ASA have to make sure no adverts break. One of them is misleading
advertising, which the ASA have said:
- Advertisements must not materially mislead or likely to do so
- They should have the delivery charges for a product
- Consumers must have the right to withdraw or cancel if they want to
- Advertisements must not mislead by omitting the identity of the advertiser.
This is the list of codes the ASA provide for people who wish to broadcast an advert:
2. The Asa basically make sure that all of the codes are obeyed by broadcasters and
companies that make the adverts to prevent the audience from feeling offended or that
the adverts aren’t false advertising which can make them lose money because people
won’t purchase the product that’s in the advert.
To comply with the codes the ASA have enforced the CAP create online guidelines to
creating an advert which follows all the codes and rules. Each online link on the ASA
website talking about complying with the codes has a different title for all the different
things people will need. These are a good way for advertisers to follow the rules because
of the easy access through the ASA website. One of the links is The Advertising Guidance
(Also known as Help Notes ) which has a list of different subjects that might be in the
advert and if they comply with codes. The advertising guidelines are made by the CAP &
BCAP which created this guidance to show the advertising codes on particular subjects
that might be put into an advert. They have the list in alphabetic all with each subject
starting with the letters of the alphabet, which is an easier way for the advertisers to
find what they are looking for. One of the subjects is the impact of Alcohol, and
Alcoholic drinks promotions. This PDF document lists the different impacts of
promotions of alcohol. The rules and guidance for this are misleading advertising, which
talks about the advert cannot imply that the product can be sold legally if it cannot be
sold legally. Marketing communications cannot mislead or likely to do so in the advert.
The CAP & BCAP advice that disclaimer should be put on adverts , just for it to assist
advertisers and consumers , and it stops complaints being made about the advertiser or
3. product, but this is mostly in Scotland.
When an advertiser makes a complaint to the ASA about another advertiser they have to
have evidence to back up the complaint they are making about the other advertiser. If
the complaint is being made , first someone must speak to the advertiser they are
making a complaint about, by registering a post or showing a receipt. If a complaint is
based off of online marketing , then the consumer who is making a complaint will have
to have a screen shot as evidence of the advert/product to show to the advertiser.
When someone is making a complaint straight to the ASA then they have to send a copy
of a registered letter which has the concerns about the complaint they are making , with
a copy of the response of the advertisers. The person who is making the complaint will
have to wait five working days for a response to their complaint from the advertiser. If
they don’t get a response within the five working days from the advertiser and they
can’t come to an agreement then they could submit a complaint to the ASA.
