Regulation
Advertisement regulation is there to try and make advertisements more reasonable by banning any advertisements that may be offensive or illegal, advertisements that have copyright infringement will be banned as well as advertisements that are offensive to viewers such as being racist. Companies that review advertisements in the UK are the Office of Communications ((OFCOM)which is a government approved organisation) and the Advertising Standards Authority ((ASA)which is a non-statutory organisation and so cannot interpret or enforce legislation).
The role of OFCOM is to regulate the content of television, radio, telecoms and postal sectors. OFCOM has a statutory duty to represent the interest of citizens and consumers by promoting competition and protecting the public by offensive and harmful material. Some of the main areas that OFCOM works in are licensing, research, codes and policies, complaints, competition and protecting the radio spectrum from abuse.
The role of the ASA is to 'Regulate the content of advertisements, sales promotions and direct marketing in the UK' by investigating complaints about advertisements, sales promotions and direct marketing and deciding whether the such advertising complies with its advertising standards codes.
The ASA are particularly concerned about:
ASA Tobacco Intervention
Before the ASA intervention in 1965 for the Cigarette and tobacco advertisements many of these advertisements were packed with misleading information. the 'Hamlet' Cigarette company had produced many misleading information in their adverts such as cigarettes make you happy and make everything better, the ASA intervention caused many advertisements on cigarettes such as Hamlet to be banned however cigars and tobacco were still able to be advertised until 1975 till more rules were applied for advertisements about cigarettes and tobacco.
ASA Controversies
The Apple Inc controversy is noteworthy because the apple advertisement in 2004 stated that the Power Mac G5 is the "Worlds fastest Computer" which was judged to be unsubstantiated. Apple also had an iPhone advertisement banned due to false claims stating that the iPhone can access 'all areas of the internet' whilst the ASA stated that the iPhone was lacking major plugins such as Flash player. My opinion is that false information is the worst type of advertising because it works so well with people, when people see that an advertisement says that it is the "Worlds fastest Computer" then people will believe it when the advertiser is clearly wrong. The ASA had been clearly in the right for this controversy
Another controversy that is noteworthy is the Maltesers when it stated that it is "the chocolate with less fattening centres" which indicates that the chocolate helps you stay slim. The ASA stated that the chocolate company is delivering false information by stating that the chocolate is a low energy food. This is a very dishonest way of advertising for the people because by delivering false information about food the people will believe it and will try to have more of these snacks in order to stay slim whilst being oblivious to the truth, whilst its great for the company in way of making money it shows that the company is a bad company and untruthful. The ASA had been clearly right for this controversy and Maltesers deserve a banning for their company.
The role of OFCOM is to regulate the content of television, radio, telecoms and postal sectors. OFCOM has a statutory duty to represent the interest of citizens and consumers by promoting competition and protecting the public by offensive and harmful material. Some of the main areas that OFCOM works in are licensing, research, codes and policies, complaints, competition and protecting the radio spectrum from abuse.
The role of the ASA is to 'Regulate the content of advertisements, sales promotions and direct marketing in the UK' by investigating complaints about advertisements, sales promotions and direct marketing and deciding whether the such advertising complies with its advertising standards codes.
The ASA are particularly concerned about:
- Misleading information
- Inaccuracy
- Ambiguity
- Exaggeration
- Omission
- Racism
Two questions that the ASA would ask for an advertisement are:
1). Is the advertisement Misleading, inaccurate or Exaggerated?
2). Is the advertisement harmful or offensive to viewers?
If the answer is yes then the advertisement would be referred to organisations like OFCOM to either be banned or altered. Sometimes the companies making the advertisement might have a compliance team to ensure that the company removes the problematic claims.
Investigations
For investigations the ASA may begin by contacting the advertiser for its views on the advertisement and, where appropriate, substantiation claims in it. The ASA on occasion may seek advice from industry experts on more complex issues.
Once an investigation is complete then a draft recommendation will be sent to the advertiser as well as the original complaint for any comments. The draft recommendation is also sent to the ASA council which then discusses the complaint and the draft recommendation and votes on whether to uphold the complaint or not. The adjudication is then posted on the website for the public and press to see.
ASA Tobacco Intervention
Before the ASA intervention in 1965 for the Cigarette and tobacco advertisements many of these advertisements were packed with misleading information. the 'Hamlet' Cigarette company had produced many misleading information in their adverts such as cigarettes make you happy and make everything better, the ASA intervention caused many advertisements on cigarettes such as Hamlet to be banned however cigars and tobacco were still able to be advertised until 1975 till more rules were applied for advertisements about cigarettes and tobacco.
ASA Controversies
The Apple Inc controversy is noteworthy because the apple advertisement in 2004 stated that the Power Mac G5 is the "Worlds fastest Computer" which was judged to be unsubstantiated. Apple also had an iPhone advertisement banned due to false claims stating that the iPhone can access 'all areas of the internet' whilst the ASA stated that the iPhone was lacking major plugins such as Flash player. My opinion is that false information is the worst type of advertising because it works so well with people, when people see that an advertisement says that it is the "Worlds fastest Computer" then people will believe it when the advertiser is clearly wrong. The ASA had been clearly in the right for this controversy
Another controversy that is noteworthy is the Maltesers when it stated that it is "the chocolate with less fattening centres" which indicates that the chocolate helps you stay slim. The ASA stated that the chocolate company is delivering false information by stating that the chocolate is a low energy food. This is a very dishonest way of advertising for the people because by delivering false information about food the people will believe it and will try to have more of these snacks in order to stay slim whilst being oblivious to the truth, whilst its great for the company in way of making money it shows that the company is a bad company and untruthful. The ASA had been clearly right for this controversy and Maltesers deserve a banning for their company.
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