Advertising & Marketing

Recent Articles

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  17/04/2024

  England and Wales

  AI-driven enforcement comes of age in UK with AI systems reshaping advertising and regulation and enforcement – ASA’s 2023 Annual Report

  The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has published its 2023 annual report, describing 2023 as a watershed year for its digital strategy.Together, the ASA and the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) secured the amendment or withdrawal of 27,378 ads in 2023, a remarkable 92% of which resulting from proactive work largely powered by the ASA’s Active Ad Monitoring System. In December 2022, the ASA ran 20,000 ads through the system, which rose to over 600,000 ads per month by the end of 2023. This system forms a key part of the ASA’s 2024 to 2028 strategy on AI-assisted...

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  09/04/2024

  United Kingdom

  Three not-so-ran­dom­ised rulings from the ASA

  On 20 March 2024, the Advertising Standards Authority (“ASA”) upheld complaints against three separate social media ads for online games that failed to disclose the inclusion of loot boxes.All three complaints were made by Leon Y. Xiao, a PHD Fellow at the IT University of Copenhagen, after he published a report in January 2024 which highlighted that 93% of games that contained loot boxes did not disclose these in their social media ads, therefore failing to comply with CAP Guidance on loot boxes.The ASA examined all three ads and upheld that each ad had breached rules 3.1 and 3.3 of...

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  02/04/2024

  England and Wales

  From Dancing Cows to “The Beast”: do these gambling ads appeal to young people?

  Introduction:On 1st October 2022, the Advertising Standards Authority (the “ASA”) introduced a new gambling advertising rule (a summary of which can be read here) which strengthened the obligations on gambling operators to ensure the content of their advertisements (“ads”) does not appeal to under 18s. At the time, questions were raised as to what would constitute a “strong appeal”, but a number of rulings since the rule was introduced have provided useful insight into what is likely to fall within scope according to ASA.The ASA has previously upheld rulings...

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  28/03/2024

  United Kingdom

  FCA Publishes Finalised Guidance on Financial Promotions on Social Media

  The Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) has published its finalised guidance on financial promotions on social media (FG24/1) (the “Guidance”). This follows a consultation carried out by the FCA in July 2023 and replaces previous guidance (FG15/4). The Guidance clarifies the FCA’s regulatory expectations for firms and others, including influencers, regarding compliance with the UK’s financial promotions regime. Additionally, it explains how communications on social media might fall within the scope of the financial promotions regime and how the rules will function...

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  28/03/2024

  England and Wales

  ASA wipes out cleaning ad showing harmful gender stereotypes

  The Advertising Standards Authority (the “ASA”) upheld a complaint against John Mills Ltd t/a JML Direct for their advertising of the Hurricane Spin Scrubber, as it presented gender stereotypes likely to cause harm.The Advertisement:The TV advertisement (the “ad”) for JML's Hurricane Spin Scrubber, aired on 7 January 2024, featured women using the cleaning tool in various household areas. The women shared their positive experiences with the scrubber, one of them mentioning gifting it to her mother. The ad featured both a male and female host, with the male host explaining...

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  22/03/2024

  England and Wales

  A bit of a turkey: ASA rules against Aldi’s “Cheapest Christmas Dinner” ad

  The ASA has made a significant ruling against Aldi in relation to a “basket of goods” comparison in which Aldi claimed to have “Britain’s cheapest Christmas dinner”. The ASA found that the claim was misleading for a number of reasons, notably because competitor prices checked in a normal trading period in November are not reflective of actual prices in the fast-moving, heavy-discounting run-up to Christmas. The ruling will have a significant impact on ads promoting products for a specific upcoming event by way of competitor price comparisons. It also casts significant...

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