Advertising Regulations:
This industry is governed by codes of practice that are designed to protect consumers and create a level playing fields for advertisers.
- ASA (The Advertising Standards Authority) is an independent and self-regulatory organisation of the advertising industry for all media in the Uk. Their mission is to ensure that ads are legal, descent, honest and truthful.
- Ofcom is an independent organisation that regulates the UK broadcasting, telecommunications and wireless communications sectors. They are responsible fo licensing all the UK commercial television and radio services.
- Clearcast is in charge of approving most commercials on British television. Advertising agencies must submit them the pre-production scripts before being able to broadcast it on TV.
How is advertising controlled in the UK?
The Uk advertising regulation is based on: self-regulation for non-broadcasting and co-regulation for broadcast advertising.
Therefore, the system is a sign of commitment from the advertising industry.
Advertisers are maintaining the system as it is also in their own interest.
It helps maintaining consumer confidence in advertising, fair competition between each company and it is much more cost-effective. Also, it allows an easy adaptation to market conditions which is very important in advertising because of its “fast-moving” industry.
Concerning the co-regulation, it was taken in charge by the ASA in 2004 as they want to maintain standards for broadcast advertising in the UK.
In this case, broadcasters must comply with the Advertising codes under their broadcast licences from Ofcom.
Therefore, the co-regulator arrangement with Ofcom created a single advertising regulator which make it easier for the consumer and the advertisers. As a result, decisions about an ad campaign running across several media vehicles are made by a single organisation.
Before being published all claims must be substantiated. Concerning TV and radio ads, most of them are pre-cleared before being broadcasted.
On the other hand, the Internet is considered as being the least regulated.
Each year, the Uk habitants sees millions of ads, direct marketing and digital communications about products, services, charities, causes and awareness campaigns. The majority of them is responsible and respect advertising rules. However, in 2008, 2500 ads were changed or withdrawn.
Links:
http://www.asa.org.uk/
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/?redirect=0
