Keeping you up-to-date with developments in the non-broadcast advertising codes and the range of resources available to you. 

Knowing the rules can help you avoid consumer or competitor complaints - and ASA investigation.  For any immediate queries, contact us on: 020 7492 2210 Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm and speak to one of our advisers.


Welcome to Insight

Welcome to the first edition of Insight from the Copy Advice team at CAP.  Designed to keep you up-to-date with what's happening in non-broadcast advertising, Insight will contain a mix of important topics, headline stories about key rulings, general hints and tips and importantly, changes to the rules that you need to be aware of as soon as they happen.  We'll help you get to grips with how the ASA is interpreting the rules and the implications that might have for you and your business.

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We hope Insight will help you get the best from the Copy Advice service.

Claire Serle, Copy Advice Manager
claires@cap.org.uk

Too sexy?  Are we bovvered?

An attractive teenager, dressed in a school uniform that reveals her midriff, poses provocatively in a classroom.  The heading reads “HOTTEST …”.  No, it’s not an ad for a cheesy school-reunion night or lap dancing club; it’s a no-frills airline’s promotional stunt, offering “back to school” low-priced air fares.

The ad received complaints from members of the public who believed it was offensive to show what appeared to be a schoolgirl posing and dressing provocatively, and irresponsible to attach sexual connotations to such an image.

The advertising Codes state that ads should be prepared with a sense of responsibility and should contain nothing that is likely to cause serious or widespread offence.  Compliance with the Code will be judged, among other things, on prevailing standards of decency.  But when society is so divided between those who object to showing the merest hint of bare flesh and to those who oppose any form of censorship, how can an advertiser judge what’s appropriate?

In this particular investigation, aware of today’s heightened sensitivity to sexual exploitation of children, the ASA concluded that the ad irresponsibly linked teenage girls with sexually provocative behaviour and demanded it be withdrawn. Read the ASA's adjudication in full.

The ad, and the vigorous public debate that followed, highlighted the concerns and confusion that both the public and advertisers have when featuring children in advertisements.  In this case the model in the ad was not a child but a young woman, and the airline claimed such images are commonplace. But does commonplace equal acceptable?

Marketers might be surprised to learn that the CAP Code contains an entire section on advertising addressed to, or featuring children.

Contact the CopyAdvice team to check that your campaigns measure up to the Code, or if you’d just like some help finding the guidance available online. Call 020 7492 2210 to speak to an adviser or e-mail copyadvice@cap.org.uk. 

Child's Play: a grown-up guide to advertising to children responsibily