18 June 2010
Advertising Association’s response to the DCMS consultation on the proposed “Regulatory Future of Remote Gambling in Britain”
Responding to the DCMS’s proposals to extend Gambling Commission licences to foreign ‘remote’ gambling operators, the AA argues that the current advertising regime, with the ASA’s rigorous scrutiny, has worked well and that extending the licensing regime to foreign operators in countries on the ‘white list’, that are already subject to regulatory controls, is burdensome, unnecessary, and could deter these companies from advertising to UK citizens.
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15 June 2010
AA response to Defra's Green Claims Consultation
This is the Advertising Association (AA) response to the consultation being conducted by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural affairs (Defra) on its proposals for the future guidance on green claims.
The aim of Defra’s guidance is “to ensure that in marketing and advertising goods and services, industry has up-to-date and relevant information to enable it to make clear and accurate environmental claims”.
In this submission the AA points out that ‘green claims’ in advertising are still largely infrequent, and the level of complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) remains low. Advertiser compliance is high.
The AA notes that there is no value to the consumer for mandatory information in advertisements. The AA repeats its call for an official glossary of key environmental terms to be published by the Government.
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23 March 2010
Response to the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills consultation on its proposal to ban the use of bills of sale for consumer lending
Whilst noting that the consultation primarily relates to an issue of product regulation, the Advertising Association underlines that the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, which are reflected in the Advertising Codes adjudicated upon by the Advertising Standards Authority, accord special protection to those consumers (including sub-prime borrowers) that may be especially susceptible to an unfair marketing activity as a consequence of any particular vulnerability they may be experiencing.
The observation is also made that whilst it is claimed that advertising conducted by firms operating in this sector is irresponsible, there is little evidence of this – for example, there have been no ASA adjudications in this area of activity for at least five years. The Advertising Association concludes that, whatever the merits of banning these products, such a decision should not in any way be informed by purely anecdotal claims about the use of unfair marketing communications to promote them.
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12 March 2010
Response to the Office of Fair Trading consultation on its draft compliance guidance for second hand car dealers
The Advertising Association calls on the OFT to include references within the eventual version of the guidance to the non-broadcast and broadcast advertising codes upon which the Advertising Standards Authority adjudicates, given the existing references in the document to advertising and the fact that CAP and BCAP rules reflect those provisions of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) of relevance to advertising.
The OFT guidance has been drawn up precisely to assist second hand car dealers to comply with the CPRs, so abiding by the CAP and BCAP Codes should help them to do so. A number of more minor comments are provided to the OFT with the objective of rendering the eventual version of the guidance clearer still.
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03 March 2010
AA Response to the Ministry of Justice Edited Register Consultation
The Advertising Association opposes the abolition of, and has stated its preference for, maintaining the Edited Register, and increased guidance for the public.
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24 February 2010
Response to HM Treasury consultation on mortgage regulation
The Advertising Association sets out its preference for second-charge mortgages to come under a single regulatory regime so as to avoid the duplication that presently exists in the form of the overlapping remits of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and local trading standards services under the leadership of the Office of Fair Trading. The case is also made for advertisements for buy-to-let mortgages to continue to be successfully regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority, after the product itself comes under FSA regulation.
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12 January 2010
Advertising Association Response to DCMS Product Placement consultation
Responding to the DCMS consultation on whether to permit product placement on television, the Advertising Association said that there are different industry viewpoints, but that, in a difficult economic climate, it supports any de-regulatory measures that could open up new revenue streams for broadcasters that could help bolster investment in original UK programme production. Product placement should not become a tool for circumventing the advertising rules, but rules made for “fenced off” advertisements are not always applicable and product placement needs to be regulated by Ofcom within the context of editorial issues.
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January 2010
Understanding and Predicting Childhood Obesity
Commissioned by the FAU
This research by Volterra, updated to take into account the latest obesity figures and commissioned by the FAU, is a contribution to the obesity debate. In summary:
- this research focuses on the role of "peer acceptance" as a significant factor in the obesity debate
- peer acceptance is about people continuing in modes of behaviour because other people within their social groups do, which makes the behaviour more acceptable within the peer group
- the analysis is based on scientifically validated "viral" methodology, widely used in understanding and predicting the spread of epidemics
- the analysis shows that peer acceptance gives a good understanding of the rise of obesity in the last decade, though this is of course not the only factor
- more research is needed and has been fielded, but this initial study shows that unless peer acceptance is given sufficient weight, policy recommendations or interventions may not be fully effective
- the AA's FAU has commissioned this report to provide a contribution to the obesity debate: by acknowledging and understanding the importance of peer acceptance, we can gain valuable insights for marketers, advertisers, and policy makers.
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