Task 4 - Regulation in advertising, A.S.A

A.S.A stands for Advertising Standards Authority and is a company that ensure advertisements are legal, decent, honest and truthful by applying by the advertising codes. Every week A.S.A send out signals informing companies and business about the rules and what is acceptable and what is not, and what they are not allowed to broadcast out to the members of the public. A.S.A work includes acting on and investigating complaints and taking action against misleading, harmful or offensive advertisements, sales promotions and direct marketing. One complaint about an advertisement can resolve into an advert being withdrawn because they insure that the adverts must not offend anyone in anyone.

A.S.A cover all types of advertisements, because it is their job to observe and handle any type of complain about that particular advert.  They handle these adverts from the TV, Radio, newspapers, Internet adverts etc.

When A.S.A get a complaint sent to them about an advert being offensive to someone their response is swift and the take the advert off TV and stop it from being broadcasted. It takes only one complaint for the advert to be taken off. Last year A.S.A received 24,214 complaints about 13,074 adverts. the result of this was that over 2,226 adverts where changed and withdrawn.

Here some examples of codes for advertising; 

This first edition of the BCAP Code comes into force on 1 September 2010. It replaces the four previous separate BCAP Codes for broadcast advertising.

This Code applies to all advertisements (including teleshopping, content on self-promotional television channels, television text and interactive television advertisements) and programme sponsorship credits on radio and television services licensed by Ofcom.

A code of practice that applies specifically to non-broadcast advertisements – the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (theCAP Code) – is the responsibility of our Non-broadcast arm. 

Here is the website for more information http://www.cap.org.uk/The-Codes/BCAP-Code.aspx 

Below is an example of a controversial Advert from Pot Noodle, there was many complaints about this advert because the content is inappropriate and the language is is quite derogatory. So this advert was never put on air again.

Not all adverts are Controversial because they are offensive some the ASA have to deal with because they are seemed to be misleading for example the virgin media adverts that used Usain Bolt to advertise really fast broadband was complained about several times by the public because virgin Broadband is not fast so therefore they are misleading the members of the public.