Page 300 - Law and the Media

18 Advertising

Tom Cassels and Rebecca Handler

18.1 Introduction

Today there are very few people, particularly amongst those working in the media, who
underestimate the power of advertising. Since commercial television was introduced in the
1950s the advertising industry has grown massively, and it is well known that large
companies are prepared to spend millions of pounds each year publicizing their products.
Because a large part of these advertising budgets is devoted to buying space on television and
in newspapers, the media are among the many beneficiaries.

In 1961, the advertising industry recognized that there was a need for unified control over the
content and presentation of non-broadcast advertisements. The industry therefore devised
and developed a self-regulatory system and published the first edition of the Code of
Advertising Practice (the ‘Code’). It also established the Advertising Standards Authority
(the ‘ASA’) to supervise the system and apply the Code to ensure that advertisements are
legal, decent, honest and truthful. The ASA is a self-regulatory body, independent from the
government and the advertising industry.

The only major areas of advertising not directly subject to the Code are television and radio
commercials. Television advertisements are regulated by the Independent Television
Commission. Radio advertisements are regulated by the Radio Authority. Both have their
own sets of rules, which are similar to those imposed by the Code, and are considered in
Chapter 17.

18.2 The Code of Advertising Practice

18.2.1 Aims and functions

The Code is the body of rules by which the overwhelming majority of advertisements
produced by the United Kingdom advertising agencies are regulated. Essentially, the Code
1
is a set of principles and guidelines on the content of advertisements. The system of
advertising control works in three ways:

1
A complete guide to the ASA and the Code can be found at www.asa.org.uk.