Lord Borrie QC left the ASA in June 2007, having served over six years as Chairman. Here, Winston Fletcher, Chairman of funding boards Asbof and Basbof, pays tribute to Lord Borrie’s leadership.
More than 20 years before he was appointed, it was already clear Lord Borrie would be an outstanding Chairman of the ASA. His commitment to advertising self-regulation had been established in the 1970s.
ASA effectiveness
In 1976 Gordon Borrie became Director-General of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), and the following year the OFT undertook a thoroughgoing review of the effectiveness of the ASA. The OFT then published the ‘Review of the UK Self-Regulatory System of Advertising Control’. This dealt at length with the possibility of converting the ASA to a statutory body with statutory powers, and said (paragraph 6.6):
“We see serious objections to this approach. First, it would be likely to seriously weaken the industry’s commitment to maintain and finance self-regulation. At present the industry spends a considerable amount of money and executives’ time on making its system work; the presence of a statutory body would be likely to make all this seem less worthwhile. Second, the combination of a diminution in the industry’s involvement in the system and the creation of a statutory body could lead to the Code being interpreted in an excessively legalistic fashion. The strength of a self-regulatory system lies in participants’ willingness to observe the spirit of rules which they themselves have had a hand in drawing up ... The general objective of transforming the ASA into a statutory authority would be to increase the protection of the public interest. We are inclined to believe that this objective may be better achieved in practice, if not in theory, by a self-regulatory system which is kept on its toes by its vulnerability to criticism, both public and official.”
It should not be surprising then that in 1999, when I needed to appoint a successor to Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank as ASA Chairman, I turned immediately to Gordon Borrie, by then Lord Borrie QC. I consulted others, and all agreed: he was the ideal candidate. In addition to his stated commitment to advertising self-regulation, his experience as Director-General of the OFT would be invaluable; and as both a QC and a Peer, the benefits of his knowledge of the law, and of his closeness to Parliament, would be immeasurable. On 1 January 2001, Lord Borrie became the ASA’s eighth Chairman.
Soon after becoming Chairman he very rightly instituted another important review – this time of the legitimacy of the ASA’s processes on the basis of Human Rights law.
Here his legal knowledge immediately came into play, as he was able to select and brief a Counsel with great expertise in the area. After assessing the Authority’s processes in detail, Counsel advised the ASA to make some minor modifications to its procedures – but generally gave it a thoroughly clean bill of health.
Broadcast advertising
However, perhaps Lord Borrie’s greatest contribution to the self-regulation of UK advertising came when the newly formed communications regulator Ofcom invited the advertising industry to bring forward a proposal for the regulation by the ASA of broadcast advertising – which had been statutorily controlled ever since the 1954 Television Act. It may sound as though this should have been a simple matter, but it was fraught with technical and legal difficulties. Lord Borrie’s wise counsel again proved invaluable. Moreover, and at least equally importantly, the exceptionally high regard in which Lord Borrie was held by Ofcom gave the regulator confidence the ASA would handle the regulation of broadcast advertising professionally and effectively. And so it has proved.
The advertising industry is extremely grateful to Lord Borrie for everything he has done to make self-regulation a real and powerful force. But consumers and the public – though perhaps they do not know it – should be just as grateful, as it is they, in the long run, who benefit from Britain’s truly effective system of advertising control. And I personally am extremely grateful to him, for he was a joy to work with.
Winston Fletcher
Chairman, Asbof and Basbof
Record complaints
During Lord Borrie’s time as Chairman the ASA received the most complaints ever recorded about this TV ad for the KFC Zinger Crunch Salad. The 2005 commercial received 1,671 complaints from viewers who said it encouraged bad manners in children. However, the ASA did not uphold complaints reasoning that it takes time to instil good manners in children and that this TV ad would not adversely affect their behaviour in the long-term.
