TV Advertising Compliance – We Get It…

Did you know the laws of compliance within TV Advertising are likely to be changing?

Would you know if your advert was acceptable or deemed offensive – like the recent issues surrounding stereotyping?

Getting this wrong could not only cost you a lot of money but also lose any potential leads. TV advertising is proven to be the best media for generating top-line growth to drives profit, with a 2.6% average market share point gained per year when using TV advertising. Can you afford to ignore this?

So What’s New…

At Resolution Television, we have spent years building a credible reputation with the TV Advertising industry and pride ourselves on keeping up to date with the recent advertising trends and legal requirements set out by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and the government-approved regulatory authority for broadcasting OFCOM

New regulations can be added at any time and if you don’t keep up, you could waste a lot of money on a great looking advert that you can no longer use. Regulations are updated by ASA, Parliament and the OFCOM board or through public complaints.

The latest change in the advertising pipeline is due to the regulators having received an overwhelming number of complaints about adverts that featured sexist stereotypes or mocked people who didn’t follow traditional roles, which it had not investigated or ruled against. As a result of this ASA has previously banned adverts on grounds of objectification, inappropriate sexualisation, and for suggesting it is desirable for young women to be unhealthily thin.

The subject for this change is open for debate, Ella Smillie, lead author of the report said “Our review shows that specific forms of gender stereotypes in adverts can contribute to harm for adults and children.”

ASA’s report is to be handed to the Committee of Advertising Practice, which sets the UK advertising code across all forms of media – from TV and newspapers to billboards and online adverts – to develop new standards to be turned into rules and enforced by the advertising watchdog.

Here are just some examples of adverts that are now in breech on the newly proposed rule :-

These adverts haven’t been banned. They are either just examples of stereotyped adverts or adverts which have received complaints.

Aptamil baby formula –

Their future starts today advert. This is one example of stereotyping in an advert. The advert shows girls growing up to be ballerinas and boys becoming engineers.

KFC Anxiety advert –

This TV advert depicts two men arguing about the size of their new TVs. It attracted complaints because of its treatment of anxiety disorders. A number also objected because it equated anxiety with a lack of masculinity, and helped perpetuate the damaging view that men shouldn’t admit to mental health concerns.

Will this now affect how everything is portrayed in a gender specific advert?

The ASA said it was not looking at implementing a blanket ban. It will still be acceptable for adverts to feature some gender stereotyped activities such as a woman doing cleaning or a man doing DIY tasks. However there are versions of this type of advert that will now come under closer scrutiny.

Not sure where to begin with your advert? Need help?

The advertising guidelines are not all black and white, like most legal documents, they are a complex web of regulations. Getting it wrong can not only see your advert banned but there is the possibility of further penalties. As an independant TV Advertising agency we can offer impartial advice throughout the entire process; from current advert trends to finding the right channels to suit your promotion, and offer budget advice for your campaign too.  We follow strict advertising guidelines to ensure your advert meets all the necessary criteria and your promotion achieves success.

After all TV advertising drives all other forms of promotion and accounts for 51% of all marketing sales conversions. Do you want to benefit from more customers and sales?

At Resolution Television we can help. Contact us at [email protected] or give us a call on 01724 376002 to find out more.