Plugging UK AD

The UK regulates and controls advertising by voluntary self-regulation. This decision generates a lot of controversy due to the fact that many other countries are against it. They argue that self-regulation is not enough and that legal codes are necessary to provide audiences and consumers with good protection. However, the UK is a striking example of how well this method can work in comparison to the other ones available in the global market.

Different Types of Regulations

There are three different classes of regulations: de-regulation, statutory control and voluntary regulation. De-regulation’s philosophy lies on the idea that you should let the market forces prevail. The market forces would regulate advertising and claims or comparisons must not be misleading since they should be capable of substantiation. Making misleading claims is not good for the brand or product because if they sell something that is not true, consumers will not buy again that product or any other product of that brand. De-regulation states that companies will not sabotage their relationship with consumers and they will not make misleading claims or comparisons and, therefore, there is no need of regulation. On the other hand, it can be argued that regulations are to protect consumers’ interests, and any brands without any reputation to protect can do whatever they want because they do not have relationships with consumers to maintain. On the other hand, statutory control is based on legal codes. The UK’s TV regulator is called OFCOM which looks at the airtime and how it is distributed. It is permitted to have up to 12 minutes per clock hour over a day’s programming, which is relatively restricted compared to other countries. Furthermore, Ofcom also regulates sponsorship arrangements and product placement. However, regarding legal codes and laws, Ofcom outsources clearance to the broadcasters under a company called Clearcast which “role is to assist advertisers and their agencies to ensure that their proposed advertising complies with the relevant laws, regulations and industry codes”. (www.clearcast.co.uk). Every commercial needs to receive a certification of approval from Clearcast before going on air. What is more, this company offers three steps to advertising agencies: it either examines storyboards, scripts and proposals for code compliance or agencies can submit a rough cut for approval or they can just wait until the ad is finished and submitted for mandatory approval. Statistics show that 40 % of the commercials do not go through the first two steps. If the commercial is approved by Clearcast, it goes on air. However, there might be viewers’ complaints after the transmission. They can find the ad offensive, for example. These complaints go to the Advertising Standards Authorities (ASA), which investigates the ad and the complaints can be upheld or rejected. If the complaints are accepted, the ad is going to be cut/withdrawn. On the other hand, some commercials are produced in order to go banned so they can use that as a PR tool or, in some other cases, they are produced to be shown online or only to get a creative award (these are called chip shop ads). Going back to the three types of possible regulations, voluntary regulation system is based on the idea that advertising industry regulates itself. This system offers speed, efficiency, minimal cost, versatility and adaptability.

UK

The UK adopted the last method. Ofcom, which is an autonomous non-governmental organization, delegates the control of ads to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that is also responsible of controlling print and direct marketing advertising. “The ASA is the independent body set up by the advertising industry to police the rules laid down in the advertising codes. The strength of the self-regulatory system lies in the independence of the ASA and the support and commitment of the advertising industry, through the Committee of Advertising Practice codes. The ASA also aims to protect consumers and create a level playing field for advertisers.”(http://www.digital-advertising.co.uk/uk-advertising-compliance-notes.pdf). In addition, the ASA is supervised by the BCAP which is financed by the Ad industry. What is more, Clearcast, as I have already said, is in charge of approving every commercial before it goes on air. Sometimes, this company is blamed for not having a good judgment when complaints are upheld: it is said that it can be over neurotic or literalistic in interpreting the code or too liberal in it. In addition, we can say that the UK voluntary self-regulation method operates ‘post-hoc’ because it relies on complaints from the general public and the ad industry itself. These complaints, as I have already stated, are investigated by ASA and can be upheld or rejected. If they are upheld, the Agency and the advertisers are directed to discontinue or amend the offending material. Moreover, the possible sanctions are: adverse publicity in the ASA bulletins on its web site, the media concerned will put/delete the ads, trading privileges- commission entitlement- are withdrawn and, ultimately, the media puts a block on the advertiser and its agency. The first sanction is not really a punishment because it is said that bad publicity is always good publicity. However, the other three sanctions have hard consequences. Whether the ad continues or not, this relates to the context. Generally, public complaints are based on offensive or misleading claims and advertising industry’s complaints are based on unfair comparative ads.

To conclude, in my opinion the way that advertising is regulated and controlled in the UK works really well owing to the fact that voluntary self-regulation has different virtues that are important to point out. First, the industry is able to publicize itself, which allows them to sell themselves, and is good PR for the advertising industry. Second, there is no necessary legalese. In other words, codes can be written in a simple, easy way to understand language and this shows the intentions behind the rules. There is compliance with the spirit of the code and not just the wording and, by doing this, you avoid people trying to find loop holes to escape and get round the law. Moreover, misleading or offensive ads can be amended or removed more quickly in comparison to legal control which takes longer. Self-regulation makes advertisers remove these ads quicker and they are willing to do it in order to fulfill their PR goals. Complaints are taken really seriously because advertisers do not want to create a negative image with the general audience. Furthermore, it is said that by using voluntary self-regulation you avoid over-restrictive legal controls that may limit creativity. What is more, I think that these virtues are strong enough and that UK voluntary self-regulation works in a smooth way thanks to them. Advertisers care about the business and are willing to take off air any possible threaten to their industry. Image is a wonderful selling tool and advertisers are not going to risk it. That is why this method of regulation works so well, the same industry is covering his back and there are fewer possibilities to make it go wrong because it is just against their will and interests.