Advertising Standards Authority (Lesson 4)

ASA regulates adverts in radio, video or in print on magazines and the can’t be misleading, harmful to people and offensive.


Harmful content

 -Adverts must not contain any content that will influence violence or anti-social behaviour.

-Adverts that include content that is aimed at a child or has a child in it must not condone or encourage unsafe actions.
-Advert owners are given responsibility to the target audience and to society as they will be viewing it. Even more responsibility should be taken when it is aimed at children.  

-Adverts can’t show children in a sexual way as they are underage.

-Adverts have to not break any laws and can’t promote for the viewers to break the law.

-Adverts can’t inflict fear into the audience without having necessary reason and if it is necessary then it has to be limited.

-The people putting up the advert they can’t over exaggerate a claim just to draw people in.

-Adverts that are meant for children that are older such as late teens, the content must be suitable for younger children as well or only to be viewed after the watershed.

-Adverts that promote products for adults has to be targeted at that audience.

-Any adverts that contain sexual content has to be viewed at a certain time when children won’t be able to see the adult content.

Misleading content
-Any adverts that have misleading content can’t be allowed to run as they are false and inaccurate.
-The communications have to be easily identifiable.

-The people running the advert must have legal documents that shows they have ownership and they don’t have any malicious intentions with what they are promoting.

Offensive content
-Adverts shouldn’t have any content that can lead to offensive.
-They have to be even more careful when they are on talking about personnel factors such as a person’s race, religion, disabilities, mental health and sexual orientation.

-Adverts that may have sexual images in them have to be carefully monitored to not offend younger children.



Boohoo advert

This adverts that contained offensive and socially irresponsible sexual references such as the term they used “send your nudes” The ASA received a complaint stating that the ad was socially irresponsible due to its reference to requests for sexual photos.

Criminal Damage

This advert was harmful because it was deemed as being socially irresponsible because it shows children smoking which could portray to young kids that smoking is good and promotes it.

Levi’s

Shows children playing with fireworks and promotes unsafe behaviour and could lead to children playing with fireworks and getting injured.   

 Prada

Shows a woman sitting on train tracks which promotes unsafe behaviour as it is the sole focus of the advert and the main thing the viewer will see and that young people are impressionable so they be tempted to play on train tracks.