REGULATORY BODY

1. How was the ASA funded?

The ASA is funded by advertisers through an arms length arrangement

that guarantees the ASAs independence.
Collected by the Advertising Standards Board of Finance (Asbof) and
the Broadcast Advertising Standards Board of Finance (Basbof), the
0.1% levy on the cost of buying advertising space and the 0.2% levy on
some direct mail ensures the ASA is adequately funded to keep UK
advertising standards high. We also receive a small income from
charging for some seminars and premium industry advice services.
I have found this information from the ASA website:
(https://www.asa.org.uk/About-ASA/Funding.aspx)
2. What exactly does ASA do?
The Advertising Standards Authority is the UKs independent regulator
of advertising across all media. We apply the Advertising Codes, which
are written by the Committees of Advertising Practice. Our work
includes acting on complaints and proactively checking the media to
take action against misleading, harmful or offensive advertisements.
I have found this information from the ASA website:
(https://www.asa.org.uk/About-ASA.aspx)
3. How does self-regulation and non-broadcast advertising
work?
Self-regulation means that the industry has voluntarily established and
paid for its own regulation.
The system works because it is powered and driven by a sense of
corporate social responsibility amongst the advertising industry.
Advertisers have an interest in maintaining the system because:

Making sure that consumers are not misled, harmed or offended by

ads helps to maintain consumer confidence in advertising.
Advertising that is welcomed by consumers is good for business.

It maintains a level playing field amongst businesses. It is important

for fair competition that all advertisers play by the same rules.

Maintaining the self-regulatory system is much more cost-effective

for advertisers than paying the legal costs of a court case.

The role of the industry is to write the Advertising Codes, help advertisers
to comply with the rules and to pay for the system.
However, the industry does not administer its own rules. It has established
the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) as the independent adjudicator.
Advertising self-regulation is flexible in its scope and is able to adapt to
market conditions. This is particularly important in the fast-moving
advertising industry.
The Code reflects requirements in law, but also contains many rules that
are not required by law at all. The advertising industry has chosen to
exercise this self-restraint not only to make further legislation
unnecessary, but also as a public demonstration of its commitment to
high standards in advertising.
Because the system works successfully, the UK Government has not
needed to regulate directly. However, that doesnt mean that the views of
politicians or civil society and the wider industry - on advertising
regulation are unimportant, so we actively seek out their views on our
work.
I have found this information from the ASA website:
(https://www.asa.org.uk/About-ASA/About-regulation/Self-regulation-of-nonbroadcast-advertising.aspx)

4. How does regulation work after an advertisement has appeared

and what sanctions can the ASA oppose?

The UK advertising regulatory system is a mixture of

self-regulation for non-broadcast advertising.

co-regulation for broadcast advertising.

Broadly this means that the system is paid for by the industry, which also
writes the rules, but those rules are independently enforced by the ASA.
For TV and radio advertising, we regulate under a contract from Ofcom.
The UK Advertising Codes are written by two industry committees: The
Committee of Advertising Practice writes the UK Code of Non-Broadcast
Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing and the Broadcast
Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) writes the UK Code of Broadcast
Advertising.
The system is a sign of a considerable commitment by the advertising
industry to uphold standards in their profession. All parts of the
advertising industry advertisers, agencies and media have come
together to commit to being legal, decent, honest and truthful in their ads.

Sanctions

If we have judged an ad to be in breach of the Codes, then the ad must

be withdrawn or amended. The vast majority of advertisers comply with
the ASAs rulings and they act quickly to amend or withdraw an ad that
breaks the Codes. We have a range of effective sanctions at our disposal
to act against the few who do not and ensure they comply with the rules.
I have found this information from the ASA website:
(https://www.asa.org.uk/About-ASA/About-regulation.aspx)
-

Non-Broadcasting Sanctions

Ad Alerts - CAP can issue alerts to its members, including the media,
advising them to withhold services such as access to advertising space.
Withdrawal of trading privileges - CAP members can revoke, withdraw or
temporarily withhold recognition and trading privileges. For example, the
Royal Mail can withdraw its bulk mail discount, which can make running
direct marketing campaigns prohibitively expensive.
Pre-vetting - Persistent or serious offenders can be required to have their
marketing material vetted before publication. For example, CAPs poster
industry members can invoke mandatory pre-vetting for advertisers who
have broken the CAP Code on grounds of taste and decency or social
responsibility the pre-vetting can last for two years.
Sanctions in the online space - CAP has further sanctions that can be
invoked to help ensure marketers claims on their own websites, or in
other non-paid-for space under their control, comply with the Codes.
For misleading or unfair advertising, ultimately if advertisers and
broadcasters persistently break the Advertising Codes and dont work with
us, we can refer them to other bodies for the further action, such as
Trading Standards or Ofcom. See our Trading Standards enforcement
leaflet for examples of the sanctions available to our legal backstop,
Trading Standards.
Such referrals are rarely necessary, as most advertisers prefer to resolve
the matter directly with us.
Finally, any advertisements that break the Codes are disqualified from
industry awards, denying advertisers and the agencies that created the
ads the opportunity to showcase their work.

I have found this information from the ASA website:

(https://www.asa.org.uk/Industry-advertisers/Sanctions/Nonbroadcast.aspx)
-

Broadcast Sanctions

For broadcast advertisements, the responsibility to withdraw, change or

reschedule a commercial lies with the broadcasters.
Broadcasters are obliged by a condition of their broadcast licenses to
enforce ASA rulings. If they persistently run ads that breach the Codes,
broadcasters risk being referred by the ASA to Ofcom, which can impose
fines and even withdraw their license to broadcast.
Although the obligation to comply with the Code rests with the
broadcaster, advertisers also suffer consequences if their broadcast ads
breach the Code.
They might, for example, face bad publicity generated by an upheld
complaint to the ASA. Advertisers might also have wasted hundreds of
thousands of pounds making the banned advertisement in the first place
and lost the revenue that it might have generated. And because
broadcasters cannot show ads that breach the Code, advertisers might
lose prime advertising slots in which a banned ad has been booked to
appear.
Finally, any advertisements that break the Code are disqualified from
industry awards, denying advertisers and the agencies that created the
ads the opportunity to showcase their work.
I have found this information from the ASA website:
(https://www.asa.org.uk/Industry-advertisers/Sanctions/Broadcast.aspx)
-

Online Sanctions

In addition to the non-broadcast options, CAP has further sanctions that

can be invoked to help ensure marketers claims on their own websites, or
in other non-paid-for space under their control, comply with the Codes.
CAP can ask internet search websites to remove a marketers paid-for
search advertisements when those advertisements link to a page on the
marketers website that hosts non-compliant marketing communications.
Marketers may face adverse publicity if they cannot or will not amend
non-compliant marketing communications on their own websites or in
other non-paid-for space online under their control. Their name and noncompliance may be featured on a dedicated section of the ASA website

and, if necessary, in an ASA advertisement appearing on an appropriate

page of an internet search website.
I have found this information from the ASA website:
(https://www.asa.org.uk/Industry-advertisers/Sanctions/Online.aspx)
-

Video-on-demand Sanctions

The ASAs designation by Ofcom of regulating Video-on-demand

advertising means that we have access to a sanction. Failure to comply
with the rules in the VOD Appendix may result in the matter being referred
to Ofcom with a view to Ofcom considering whether the media service
provider has contravened the relevant requirements of the Act.
I have found this information from the ASA website:
(https://www.asa.org.uk/Industry-advertisers/Sanctions/Video-on-demand.aspx)

Barnardos Harmful Advertising:

Barnardos, 2008 The ASA received 840 complaints about this Barnardos
ad campaign, which was designed to raise awareness of domestic child
abuse. The TV campaign featured repeated scenes of violence and drugtaking, which many viewers found upsetting and not suitable for
broadcast at times when children were likely to be watching. We did not
doubt the distress or offence described by many of the complainants.
However, we considered the ads were appropriately scheduled and their
aim justified the use of strong imagery.
I have found this information from the ASA website:
(https://www.asa.org.uk/~/media/Files/ASA/Adcheck/Ad%20Banks/Harmful/Harmful
%20advertising.ashx)
Tesco F&F Inappropriate Advertising:

A TV ad, for Tesco F&F clothing range, cut between a woman and a man
wearing different clothing in each shot and included the woman in a bikini
and cut-off shorts. The models were shown either posing or moving
around, including the woman rolling on the floor. The woman lip-synched
to the song played throughout the ad, which included the lyrics "I want
your touch. I want your body. I feel the heat. It's you, it's you I want
tonight. The heat is on. I want you here tonight. I feel the heat".

Issue: Thirteen viewers challenged whether the ad was inappropriate for

broadcast before 9 pm, particularly at times when children could be
watching.
I have found this information from the ASA website:
(https://www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications/2014/7/Tesco-StoresLtd/SHP_ADJ_267799.aspx#.WElF4bKLSUk)