Advertising regulation refers to the laws and rules defining the ways in which products can be advertised in a particular region. Rules can define a wide number of different aspects, such as placement, timing, and content. In the United States, false advertising and health-related ads are regulated the most. Many communities have their own rules, particularly for outdoor advertising. Sweden and Norway prohibit domestic advertising that targets children. Some European countries don’t allow sponsorship of children’s programs, no advertisement can be aimed at children under the age of twelve, and there can be no advertisements five minutes before or after a children’s program is aired. In the United Kingdom advertising of tobacco on television, billboards or at sporting events is banned. Similarly alcohol advertisers in the United Kingdom are not allowed to discuss in a campaign the relative benefits of drinking, in most instances therefore choosing to focus around the brand image and associative benefits instead of those aligned with consumption. There are many regulations throughout the rest of Europe as well. In many non-Western countries, a wide-variety of linguistic and non-linguistic strategies are used to mock and undermine regulations.
Two of the most highly regulated forms of advertising are tobacco advertising and alcohol advertising.
In the UK the situation is complex, as each medium is governed by a different regulatory body:
- Non-Broadcast Advertising is dealt with by the Advertising Standards Authority
- UK TV Advertising complaints are referred to the OfCom
- All advertising in the UK is subject to the Committee of Advertising Practice's Code (known as the CAP Code) and also to the Code of the European Advertising Standards Alliance.
All this leads to a maze of voluntary rules and legislation which must be negotiated by an agency seeking to produce a campaign. There are extremely strict rules regarding the advertising of tobacco (banned), alcohol (going that way), medicines/medical services and products aimed specifically at children. Advertising law is a complex area.
From researching the regulation of advertising i have learnt that you can't just advertise anything you want. There are certain rules for each different catagory of an advertisment, for example chilren and smoking.
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