HA3 - Task 5

Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)

the 'Advertising Standards Authority' is the group responsible for the advertising industry in the United Kingdom. they check and make sure that adverts don't say things that they cannot provide evidence for or things that aren't sure.

Its role is to "regulate the content of advertisements, sales promotions and direct marketing in the UK" by investigating "complaints made about ads, sales promotions or direct marketing", and deciding whether such advertising complies with its advertising standards codes.

These codes stipulate that "before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove all claims, whether direct or implied, that are capable of objective substantiation" and that "no marketing communication should mislead, or be likely to mislead, by inaccuracy, ambiguity, exaggeration, omission or otherwise"

Anyone can ask the Advertising Standards Authority to investigate an advertisement. If there is a problem with it, the Authority may then tell the company to change or remove it.

Office of communications (OFCOM)

Ofcom is a company that is available tot eh public. People send the complaints to OFCOM and then they deal with them. Ofcom stands for office of communications. when somebody sends in a complaint it usually has something to do with an advert or radio show. an example would be. if somebody thought that a condom advert was sexual to be televised then they would write a complaint to ofcom who would either take down the advert or tell the comapny that made it to change it and make it less sexual.