The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the independent regulator of advertising across all media in the UK. It ensures advertisements are truthful, legal, and do not harm consumers. The ASA reviews every ad and applies advertising codes to protect the public, especially children, from offensive, misleading or harmful content. Advertisers can seek advice from the ASA to help their ads comply with regulations. If advertisers continue to violate the codes, the ASA can require ads to be removed or refer cases to organizations like Ofcom for further action.

1. The ASA (The Advertising Standards Authority)
The ASA (The AdvertisingStandardsAuthority)isthe UnitedKingdom’s
independentregulatorof all advertisingacrossthe entire Mediaindustry.
The main thingsthe AdvertisingStandardsAuthoritydois protectall of the
consumersaroundthe worldthatmightsee AdvertisementsonTV,Online
etc.Nowif there wasno authoritylike the advertisingstandardsauthority,
all of the publiccouldbe exposedtoharmful,offensive,misleadingandinaccurate advertisements
shownanywhere withinthe Mediaindustry.Andthisiswhere the ASA come inbecause theyscan
everyadvertisementtosee if theywill offendacertainethnicgroupetc. Alsowhentheyscanthe
advertisementstheyapplythe advertisingcodes,whichwere writtenbythe Committeesof
AdvertisingPractice.Andif aspecificcompanycontinuestosendinadvertisementsthatare
offensive asanexample,the ASA will referthemtoOfcom(The Office of Communications)or
TradingStandards.The advertising standardsauthorityalsoworkswithanumberof organisations
that regulate the ASA suchas; Ofcom,GamblingCommission,Financial ConductAuthority,Food
StandardsAgencyandmany more.Withall of these organisationssupportingthe advertising
standards authoritythey’ll have agreatdeal of powerinthe AdvertisingIndustryandfromthisthey
will be able tohelpprotectthe publicaroundthe worlda lotmore efficiently. Alsowiththe ASA
havingthismuchpowertheywill quite easilybe able toremove Dishonest,harmful,misleading
advertisementsthatwanttobe broadcasting.By doingthistheywill be able toprotectchildrenas
an example asIthinkthat thisistheirmainprioritytostop childrenwatchingmisleadingadvertsthat
may change theirfuture ina bad way.
The industrythat rightsthe codesisa companycalledthe Committees
of AdvertisingPractice (CAP);thiscompanymake twotypesof
advertisingcodeswhichare the CAPandthe BCAP.The CAPcode stands
for a non-broadcastadvertisingcode andthe BCAPstandsfor the
broadcastingadvertisingcode.These twotypesof codesare the codes
that the advertisingstandardsauthority,use whentheyare evaluating
each individual advertisementtosee if theyare offensiveormisleading
as an example. Intotal onthe page I lookedatthere was a total of thirty
three advertisingcodesandthree appendixes.These are the UnitedKingdom’scodesandthese are
the codesthat the advertisingstandardsauthority,choosetofollow toprotectviewersfromharmful
advertisementsthatchildrenasan example mightwatch.Inthe top rightcorner isa fairlysmall
image of some of the Advertisingcodesandsome of themlistedwithinthe photoare these few
advertisingcodes;
1. Compliance
2. Recognitionof Advertising
3. MisleadingAdvertising
4. Harm and Offence
5.Children
there are many more advertisingcodesandbyapplyingall of these codesthe ASA willbe able to
protectthe publicfrommisleadingadvertisements.Now Iambrieflygoingtosummarise one of the
codesof mychoice and I have decidedtopickthe Childrencode. Brieflyif the ASA findsan
advertisementthatisdirectingit’sselfata childdemographicaudience theylooktosee if there is

2. anythingshowingun-safe practicesorun-fairpressureif itdoesshow anythinglikethisthe ASA have
the powerto remove thisadvertisementfrombeingbroadcasted. NextIwill be talkingabouthow an
advertisercanuse the ASA to helpthemcomplywiththe code.There are multiple waysinwhichan
advertisercanuse the advertisingstandardsauthoritytohelpthemcomplywiththe code suchas;
theyofferGuidance,BespokeCopyAdvice,Website Audits,Newsletters,Training andEvents,The
CopyAdvice Teamand eLearning.FirstlyIamgoingto pick one of these helpinghandsandthe one I
have chosenisthe Bespoke CopyAdvice.The BespokeCopyAdvice isone of the thingsthe CAP
(Committeesof AdvertisingPractice) offerstohelpadvertisers.Advertisersare able touse thisby
sendingina scriptto the CAPand fromthisscript theywill review itandthensenditback,theytend
to replywithinthe first24 hours.Howeverif anadvertiserisina rushfor a specificreasontheycan
pay a total price of £300 and theywill suddenlygetitdone within4hours. Firstof all if a competitor
wishestomake a complaintabouta specificadvertisementthatmightbe misleadingtheyshould
contact the advertiserincharge of the advert.Howeverthe complaintmustbe infull detail towhy
theythinkthisspecificadvertisementshouldnotbe broadcasted.Secondly the competitor’s
complaintwill thenbe signedandaddressedtosomeonewhoisresponsible forthe contentof the
advertisement.Howeverif the complaintisaboutanonline advertisementthe competitormust
obtaina screenshotthatrelatestotheircomplaint.Thirdlywhenthe complaintissentof the
advertisermustgive asubstantive response withfiveworkingdays,howeverif the twopeople do
not agree the complaintisthenallowedtobe senttothe ASA so theycan come to an agreement.
Lastlywhena complaintisbeingsenttothe ASA theyask forthe people tofocusontheirconcerns
and notthe complaintitself,andfromthenonoutthe ASA will thendeal withitthemselves.
In myconclusion,Ibelievethatthe ASA (AdvertisingStandardsAuthority) worksreallyhardto
protectthe public(mostlychildren) fromharmful ormisleadingadvertisements.However
sometimesthe ASA maywell make amistake andfromthisitcouldthenbe accessedbynumerous
amountsof people anditmay easilybe dishonestandharmful inmultiple ways.Butthisinitselfisa
veryrare occasion.