	March 2007

The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) is the industry body responsible for the UK advertising codes. The Non-broadcast Committee is responsible for the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing that applies to non-broadcast marketing communications; the Broadcast Committee is responsible for the Broadcast Advertising Codes. The Advertising Standards Authority is the independent body that endorses and administers the Codes.

Updated Help Note on price claims in utilities marketing

After two years of escalating energy prices, utilities companies are now rushing to slash their rates. With competition fierce, CAP has updated its Help Note on Price Claims in Utilities Marketing to help companies make the hottest claims at the same time as keeping their ads in line with the CAP Code.
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Lowering the tone

BCAP reviews the rule on the sound levels of TV ads. Find out more information about our forthcoming consultation.
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Sex and violence - The knives are out for advertisers who go too far

Some advertisers try to achieve cut-through by using provocative ads but few deliberately break the CAP or BCAP Codes. Two recent ASA adjudications, one about knife-related violence and one about the sexualisation of children, identify campaigns that crossed too far into unacceptable imagery.
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Competitor snaps at ‘largest’ claim

At CAP it’s an all too familiar scenario: a competitor seizes on a rival’s claim that it’s the “biggest” or the “best”. Read how two reptile companies in Norwich had to show who indeed was number 1.
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Are you up to speed on broadband advertising?

If you’ve ever had cause to gnash your teeth in frustration while waiting for a page to download from the net, you’ll sympathise with the people who recently complained to the ASA because their broadband connection speeds were nowhere near as fast as the advertised “up to 8 Meg” or “up to 24 Meg”. Despite the “up to” qualification, the ASA investigated the complaints and made decisions with far-reaching consequences for broadband suppliers.
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Food advertising to children

A few weeks ago, OFCOM at last published the results of its extended consultation on the TV content and scheduling restrictions for food ads targeted at children. BCAP has incorporated the new restrictions in its TV Code and CAP is considering the changes it will make to the CAP Code.
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Headlines and footnotes: a step-by-step guide

Headline claims have been branded misleading by the ASA in recent adjudications. Often, the footnotes used by advertisers to qualify their claims get them into trouble. We offer advice on how to make sure you don’t put your foot in it with your headlines and smallprint.
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Recent and future training and events: live and ‘webcast’

Training and advice on rule changes plays a key part in the CAP Executive’s work at the moment as new rules come into force for food advertising to children and for gambling. It is vital to ensure that advertisers, agencies and media owners know without delay the implications of new rules and that has prompted us to launch our first event webcast to reach as much of the industry as we can.
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The CAP website: you tell us what you think

Towards the end of last year, CAP and the ASA ran an online survey to find out what visitors thought of our websites. The results were great but we’re not complacent. We still want you to tell us whether the sites meet your needs. Find out how to give us your feedback and to get a flavour of the online survey results.
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