ASA

Taste and Decency

Around 20% of complaints the ASA receive are about advertisements that have caused offence. It is their job to ensure that adverts do not cause offence to the public and should be sensitive to topics like race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or disability. The ASA often conducts research to get the publics opinions on issues to do with advertising. Recent adverts under adjudication have been Spearmint Rhino’s poster featuring a woman dressed only in underwear. The complainants found it unsuitable for the poster to be displayed outside a mosque. It was subsequently taken down as the company wished to be socially responsible.

Social Responsibility

The ASA asks for advertiser’s to be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and society, examples of how an advertiser could be socially irresponsible are:

•The use of shocking images that could cause undue fear and distress
•The depiction of scenes that could encourage people to behave in an irresponsible
or unsafe way
•The advertising of products, or their consumption, in ways that can be harmful to
health
•Advertising to children that could make them feel inferior, encourage them to pester
their parents, or result in their physical, mental or moral harm. (See the section on
Children and Advertising).

The advertising codes rules are as follows:

•Ads should not cause serious or widespread offence.
•Ads should not cause undue harm or distress
•Ads should contain nothing that might provoke anti-social or violent
behaviour
•Ads should contain nothing that is likely to result in the physical, mental or
moral harm of children.

The ASA are concerned with such dilemma’s as copycat kids syndrome which is where children copy potentially dangerous behavior without considering the consequences.

In the past the ASA has been concerned with the Reebok advert featuring hip hop star 50 cent. The advert contained dark mis-en scene and was about how the rapper had been shot nine times yet survived, The ASA received 57 complaints about the advertisement and it was withdrawn because it was seen to have glorified gun crime to young people, the advert was interpreted to mean that violence and crime are acceptable since even though he was shot nine times he survived it.

Shock tactics can be quite common in advertising as well, it can sometimes use shocking images or scenes which could put across important messages or potentially cause fear and distress. The ASA accepts using shock tactics where it is necessary for example the NSPCC adverts which are about child abuse are very effective.

Children and Advertising

Adveristing concerning or involving children is a sensitive issue, the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) are in charge of the advertising codes to do with children and lay down strict rules on this.

Common issues surrounding children and advertising are:

•Making children desire things they cannot afford or would not be able to use
•Pester power: encouraging children to pester their parents for advertised products or services.
•Showing children in unsafe or dangerous situations that other kids might emulate.
•Making children feel inferior, especially if they don’t buy the products or services shown in the ads.
•Showing children in a sexual way. I.e. wearing make-up and glamorous clothes
•Advertising soft drinks & high fat / sugar foods to children

It is important to protect children from seeing unsuitable adverts, this is why there is a 9pm watershed for adverts, as young children won’t be watching TV at this time so any adverts of a more adult nature are shown at this time. The BBFC are also used to regulate the public screening of films and rate a film on which age group it is suitable for in order to protect children from seeing adult film’s that may contain bad language, sexual images or violence.

For more info visit their site:
http://www.asa.org.uk/