Blog Post 3: The ASA BCAP Code

Information on the ASA's code of conduct:

I researched the ASA so that I knew what restrictions and rules TV adverts adhere to in order to be approved for broadcast. This helped me as I learnt what my ad could contain and this was taken into account when considering my initial planning, idea and consequent proposal.

Main code of Conduct (from the ASA website):

Advertisements cannot cause physical (as a knock-on effect) or mental harm to those who are susceptible/vulnerable. broadcasters are held accountable if an aired advert does not comply with the codes of conduct. The ASA has the right to reject investigation of an advert in which case other regulatory bodies (e.g. court) should be engagedImportant information to take from superiority claims/competition.

• Any and all claims to superiority must be backed up with legitimate factual evidence (meaning our adverts couldn't claim superiority as there was no company to praise)
• a direct quote from the ASA: "Advertisements must not create confusion between the advertiser and its competitors or between the advertiser's product or service, trade mark, trade name or other distinguishing mark and that of a competitor."  This is obviously to prevent other companies from riding off the success of an individual company.

• The ASA also made it obvious that attempts to "take unfair advantage of the reputation of a competitor's trade mark, trade name or other distinguishing mark or of the designation of origin of a competitor product or service." meaning our adverts and company's likeness couldn't look similar to or imitate another existing fast food service. Therefore, plays on existing conventions used by other fast food adverts couldn't be used as this would risk infringing the ASA rules

• Our Adverts (for the obvious reason that our ads have to reach individuals under the age of 18, our age range is from 16-25) cannot feature any spirits or items that are bad dietary behaviour as this would undermine progress towards national dietary improvement.

Rules regarding religious portrayal (if any):

• Do not portray a particular faith (or their preferences) in a negative or disrespectful manner
• protect the young and allow parents to exercise choice in their child's moral and philosophical education

• an example of an advert that broke the ASA's code of conduct can be seen below:

The significance of the research was that it showed me the main rules to consider when making my advert and how to keep the adverts suitable for the audience watching the program at the time of the commercial break. I will take this information forward into the planning phase and proposal phase, to ensure my adverts fully fit the brief –which means my ad must adhere to the ASA’s guidelines.