Page 302 - Law and the Media

Advertising
Honest: it must not take unfair advantage of consumers by ‘exploiting their
credulity or inexperience’; and
Truthful: it must not mislead, either expressly or though ambiguity. Particular
care must be taken with political advertisements, the quotation of prices and the
use of testimonials.
2. Advertisements should be ‘prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and
society’. In practice, this means that advertisers should not play on fear without good
reason, or condone violence and antisocial behaviour. Care should be taken not to exploit
or infringe the privacy of consumers, and to avoid portraying or referring to individuals
without their permission. Care should also be taken to avoid showing or advocating
dangerous behaviour, for example excessive drinking or smoking. Special care should be
taken with advertisements directed at children.
3. Advertisements must abide by the principles of ‘fair competition generally accepted in
business’, and should not denigrate the products of rivals or exploit the goodwill of others.
Advertisements should be wary of imitating other advertisements.
4. The Code sets out additional rules for advertising products whose nature requires that
special care be taken to protect the interests of consumers. These include advertisements
containing health claims, employment and business opportunities, financial services and
products, and advertising aimed at children.

An appendix to the Code establishes a separate ‘Cigarette Code’, which is also administered
by the ASA and contains the body of principles developed in conjunction with the tobacco
industry to govern the advertising of cigarettes and tobacco products.

18.2.4 The complaints procedure
The procedure adopted by the ASA for handling complaints about breaches of the Code is
very similar to that used by the Press Complaints Commission (see Chapter 17).

As the ASA has no legal authority, the handling of complaints relies upon what it calls a
‘self-regulatory system’.

Complaints should be made in writing to the ASA by letter or email. An initial assessment
is made to ensure that the complaint falls within the remit of the Code and that there is a case
to answer. If it is within the necessary remit, the complaint will be investigated. Only one
complaint is necessary for an investigation to be launched.

The complaint is submitted to the advertising company, who is asked to comment on the
complaint in writing and provide evidence that no breach of the Code has occurred if it
disputes the claim. Under the Code, particular emphasis is placed on preserving and
supplying all evidential matter and documentary evidence in support of the advertisement.

If the matter is particularly serious, the ASA will ask for the relevant advertisement to be
withdrawn until the investigation is concluded.
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