Advertising Standards Authority ASA

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) regulates the content of adverts in the UK. This covers adverts on television and radio, in newspapers and magazines, and online, including social media.

Self-regulation

The ASA is self-regulatory: the advertising industry writes and follows the rules itself, rather than being controlled directly by the government. The ASA is also funded by the advertising industry, not by government money. This works because advertisers know that if they ignore the rules, their adverts can be stopped.

Stopping adverts that mislead

One of the ASA's main jobs is to make sure adverts do not mislead audiences or exaggerate the quality of products and services. An advert must not make false claims or create a misleading impression about what a product can do or how much it costs. If an advert breaks the rules, the ASA can ban it, so it can no longer be published or broadcast.

The ASA cannot fine advertisers itself, but a ban is still serious. The advert cannot be used, the money spent making it is wasted, and the brand's reputation can be damaged. A banned advert can also attract negative publicity, which may put customers off.

Planning adverts that pass

For media production, this means advertising content has to be planned carefully from the start. Any claim you make must be accurate, you should hold evidence to support it, and the finished advert must follow the advertising rules before it is released. A producer checks every headline, image and voiceover in pre-production, because changing an advert after it has been banned costs far more than getting it right first time.