The Committee of Advertising Practice creates, revises and enforces the advertising codes. In 2004, the CAP Executive continued to work with and support the non-broadcast advertising industry, offering advice and guidance for advertisers, training for agencies and new rules for award organisers.

Industry help and guidance
CAP’s guidance for the industry helps advertisers to interpret the Code in line with ASA Council rulings. In 2004, a steady increase in complaints received and upheld by the ASA about advertising for fortune tellers; clairvoyants; palm, crystal ball and tarot card readers and psychic healers led CAP to issue new guidance for advertisers in this area.

CAP acted after being concerned that some advertising for spiritual and psychic services contains claims that are impossible to prove and could mislead and exploit the vulnerable. In particular, some advertisers make exaggerated promises of wealth and good fortune and others promise to reunite separated partners or to solve all problems with 100% guaranteed results.

The Help Note on the Marketing of Spiritual and Psychic Services, Astrologers and Lucky Charms requires that emphasis should be placed on individuals helping themselves instead of implying that events or changes caused by some external force might happen to them. Results should not be ‘guaranteed’ unless the advertiser can prove that claim and, when sending direct marketing, advertisers should not imply that they have personal knowledge about recipients.

An updated Help Note on the Marketing of Publications was prepared during the year in response to large numbers of upheld complaints to the ASA about ads for non-fiction books (especially those that refer to medical conditions). Such complaints usually involve challenges such as whether the ads could encourage self-diagnosis or self-treatment for serious medical conditions, whether the claims were capable of being substantiated and whether they exploited vulnerable people.

The revised Help Note expands on earlier guidance and illustrates claims that are likely to be acceptable and claims that are likely to fall foul of the Code.

Other Help Notes issued during 2004 include the Help Note on Ticket Pricing and the Help Note on Mobile Marketing. CAP Help Notes can be downloaded from www.cap.org.uk.

Training for industry
New graduate recruits to IPA member advertising agencies were introduced to the new one-stop shop for advertising complaints by ASA and CAP staff at a series of autumn seminars. The roles of the two separate CAP committees – broadcast and non-broadcast – were outlined to delegates, who were asked to take on the role of the ASA Council and decide if a selection of ads had broken the Codes.

Industry awards
Awards commending innovation and creativity in advertising are keenly fought over by advertising agencies; but winning ads must demonstrate creativity within the boundaries of the CAP Code. Marketing communications that have been subject to an upheld ASA adjudication are disqualified from entering advertising industry awards and during the year a new set of rules establishing entry criteria were developed to aid award organisers when vetting submissions. CAP’s rules mean that campaigns including an execution that has been subject to an ASA upheld adjudication are ineligible as is any campaign that has included a flyposter, irrespective of an ASA ruling. Similarly, ads in campaigns that have been subject to an Ad Alert may not be entered