Key issues
Below is a round-up of some topical issues for advertising and an update on how the different parts of the self-regulatory system are working together to ensure advertising in these sensitive sectors informs, entertains and promotes healthy competition without misleading or harming consumers.
Health therapies and homeopathy services
In response to the marked increase in the number of complaints received by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) relating to websites advertising health and particularly homeopathy services and products, the Copy Advice team has produced some guidance materials for website owners.
The notes give practical advice on how marketers can work within the advertising rules. The three notes provide advice on homeopathy, the evidence requirements for marketing claims about health therapies, and an overview of how the ASA works.
This advice is part of the work by the Copy Advice team to help marketers get their advertising right. By improving understanding of the implications of the rules in the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing we aim to help prevent breaches of the rules and reduce complaints and the need for ASA action.
For further information read our three guides:
Digital media
From the internet and e-mail to podcasts and texts, digital is an increasingly important advertising channel. Digital is also reported to be more resilient to the economic downturn than traditional media, with the internet enjoying double-digit growth in ad-spend year-on-year.
Reflecting, the ASA has seen a significant rise in complaints about digital marketing in recent years. The internet is now the second most complained about medium after TV, with around 14% of total complaints. In 2009, the ASA received 3,546 complaints about marketing communications on the internet. However, nearly 57% of internet ads complained about fell outside the ASA’s remit because they were companies’ own marketing communications on their own websites.
To plug this regulatory gap, industry undertook a complex series of discussions which culminated in it recommending an extension to the ASA’s digital remit. On 1 September 2010 it was announced that the ASA would be given responsibility to apply the CAP Code to companies’ own marketing communications on their websites and in other non-paid space under their control. The extended remit will come into effect on 1 March 2011.
Significantly, where the CAP Code already applies online compliance with the rules is high. The ASA’s Digital Media Survey 2008 revealed 97% of ads adhered to the Code.
Related advice
Alcohol
A national debate is underway about the promotion, availability and consumption of alcohol as the negative effects of excessive drinking continue to make headlines.
As some call for tougher controls, all possible contributing factors are under scrutiny – including advertising.
The Advertising Code-owning bodies, CAP and BCAP, take the concerns about underage and irresponsible drinking seriously. In 2005 they responded by significantly tightening the alcohol advertising rules. The rules are based on the best available evidence of the impact alcohol advertising has on consumption.
The ASA plays its part by ensuring the strict rules are applied rigorously. It not only acts on complaints, but is also responsible for monitoring ads to ensure alcohol is promoted in a socially responsible way. The ASA’s Alcohol Advertising Survey 2009 revealed that 99.7% of ads complied with the Codes, an improvement on the compliance rate of 98.9% from the 2008 survey and 97.4% from the 2007 survey.
But there is no room for complacency, which is why the ASA routinely engages with key stakeholders and gauges opinion on the effectiveness of the rules and the way we interpret them.
Relevant advice
Price comparisons
One very noticeable effect of the economic downturn has been to bring value to the fore in advertising. With companies promoting themselves in a fiercely competitive marketplace, price comparisons are playing an increasingly prominent part in the battle for market share and customer loyalty.
All this has led to a steady rise in the number of complaints to the ASA about comparative ads, particularly by supermarkets, other retailers, telecoms and utilities companies. Consumers are confronted with a plethora of claims including the price of baskets of goods, utility tariffs and broadband packages to entice them to switch.
The ASA's priority here is to ensure that ads do not mislead consumers and to help provide a level playing field where companies can make legitimate claims about their products and services.
Related advice
- Detailed advice for advertisers: see our Ad advice section
Food
In the UK, concerns about rising levels of obesity, particularly among children, have led to a tightening of the rules surrounding food and soft drinks across media; and on television, specifically foods high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS). Since 2007, the new rules have placed significant restrictions on the content of ads and on the scheduling of TV ads.
The level of complaints about food and drink advertising to children remains low. However, advertisers are clearly mindful of the rules and pro-active surveys of the food and drink sector by the ASA reveal compliance levels are high.
The ASA’s Food and Soft Drink Advertising Survey 2009 revealed that of the 1,110 ads assessed only seven breached a Code, producing, an overall compliance rate of 99.4%. Significantly, none of the ads breached any of the new tightened rules.
Furthermore the TV HFFS restrictions were subject to two reviews by Ofcom, the overall conclusion of which was: the restrictions have served to reduce significantly the amount of HFSS advertising seen by children and to reduce the influence of techniques in HFSS advertising that are considered likely to be particularly attractive to children.
Evidence to date continues to suggest that the current rules are a proportionate and reasonable response to concerns about food and soft drinks advertising to children. The ASA will continue to monitor ads pro-actively to ensure compliance rates remain high.
Related advice
Environment
Advertisers should be aware of growing concerns about environmental issues.
Promoting the ‘green’ credentials of a product, service or initiative has become an increasingly common practice. Correspondingly, complaints about environmental claims have increased significantly over the last few years, reaching an all time high in 2007. Emerging technologies and differing scientific opinions mean there is a lack of official consensus on definitions and what can be called ‘green’.
CAP/BCAP and the ASA have undertaken work to help advertisers and the public understand what claims such as ‘environmentally friendly’, ‘renewable’, ‘carbon neutral’ and ‘sustainable’ mean in the context of an ad. Training, guidance, a stakeholder consultation seminar ‘Environmental Claims in Advertising: Is Green a Grey Area?’ and work with Defra on the ‘Green Claims Code’ have helped to secure consensus and provide clarification on what claims mean and what is acceptable.
Furthermore, following public consultation, the Broadcast Code now, for the first time, contains a dedicated section on the environment which provides consistency across media for advertisers.
Relevant advice