1. ASA
What is the ASA
The ASA is an Authority formed to create and push for all media to be legal,
decent, honest and truthful. This is in fact their Mantra and ASA stands for
'Advertising Standards Authority' and there main job is to promote the highest
standards across all media. Although ASA is a british based business it's funded
by he advertising agency asapose to a british man or group.
What does the ASA do
The ASA's main role in the Media industry is to regulate the content of
advertisements, sales promotions and direct marketing in the UK. This then
includes having to do activities such as investigating complaints made about
adverts, sales promotions or direct marketing and deciding whether advertising
complies with its advertising standards codes.
What types of advertising does the ASA cover
The ASA cover a wide and broad range of adverts from Magazines to DVDs to
Marketing campaigns. Below is a list of all the adverts that they cover.
Magazine and newspaper advertisements
Radio and TV commercials (not programmes or programme sponsorship)
Television Shopping Channels
Advertisements on the Internet, including:
banner and display ads
paid-for (sponsored) search
Marketing on companies’ own websites and in other space they control like
social networking sites Twitter and Facebook
Commercial e-mail and SMS text message ads
Posters on legitimate poster sites (not fly posters)
Leaflets and brochures
Cinema commercials
Direct mail (advertising sent through the post and addressed to you personally)
Door drops and circulars (advertising posted through the letter box without your
name on)
Ads on CD ROMs, DVD and video, and faxes
Sales promotions, such as special offers, prize draws and competitions wherever
they appear.
How does the ASA respond to complaints
2. The ASA requires the full name and address of the complainant in order to ensure
that the complaint is legitimate. These details are never leaked outside of the ASA
database without given permission from the Complainer them self. The only cases
where the ASA might ask the complainant for their permission to be named relate
to complaints that a consumer has not yet received goods or wishes to be removed
from a marketer's database.
If the complaint comes from a competitor or someone with a trade or vested
interest with the advertiser about which they are complaining, the ASA requires the
company to agree to be named. This, according to the ASA, limits the number of
petty or retaliatory complaints. The ASA proceeds only with the express
permission of the complainant for their organisation to be named.
You can appeal against your complaint and there are 2 main grounds which must
be complied with if you are to appeal, and these are:
1. Where additional evidence has come to light. If it is the advertiser that has
brought additional evidence to bear, it must provide an explanation as to why the
evidence was not available during the investigation.
2. Where there has been a substantial flaw in either the ASA Council's adjudication
or the investigation process.
Examples of Codes for TV advertising
Some examples of TV advertising codes are:
Television exerts a strong influence on the community.
Advertisements must be truthful and lawful.
Advertisements should be clearly distinguishable from programmes.
Any advertisement that has the effect of indirectly publicising
an unacceptable product or service should not be accepted for telecast.
Children are defined as those aged 14 years and below. The guidelines take
into account the fact that children's ability to distinguish between fact and
fantasy will vary according to their age, and that children in general tend to
be imitative by nature.
Advertisements for chatline and non-accredited dating services are not to be
telecast.
Below is a link to a website which gives all the TV advertising Codes.
http://www.mda.gov.sg/Documents/PDF/Policies/PoliciesandContentGuidelines_
TV_TVAdCode.pdf
