Your Guide to the ASA

The Advertising Standards Authority is here to protect the interest of consumers.  It’s our role to make sure all advertising, wherever it appears, is both honest and decent.  This section of our site tells you more about the rules of advertising, how to complain if you come across an advertisement that breaks the rules and how the ASA is working to keep UK advertising standards as high as possible.

If you want to complain about the content of an ad, about unwanted mail or the non-delivery of goods, promotional items or refunds, you’re in the right place.

But if its something else, there's a list of other organisations at the foot of this page who may be able to help.

For a more detailed guide to everything we do, take our Guided Tours for Consumers, Advertisers, Schools and Colleges or on New Media

 

The dos and don'ts of advertising

Every advertisement – whether it appears on the TV, radio, Internet, in a newspaper or on a poster, or if it drops on your doormat – is required to meet certain codes of conduct.  Administered by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), these codes are there to prevent advertising that is either misleading or offensive.

Codes of conduct govern advertising in the UK.  The advertising industry takes responsibility for the Codes, which apply to radio and television commercials, ads in non-broadcast media, sales promotion and direct marketing.  Here are some of the key rules contained in the Codes:

Misleading advertising

Advertisements are not allowed to mislead consumers.  This means that advertisers must hold evidence to prove the claims they make about their products or services before an ad appears.

Offensive advertising

Ads are not allowed to cause serious or widespread offence.  Special care needs to be taken on the grounds of sex, race, religion, sexuality and disability.  We consider many factors before deciding whether or not the ad is offensive – including where the ad appears, the audience, the product and what is generally acceptable conduct at the time.  It’s not simply about the number of complaints made.

Other rules

The Codes also contain specific rules about sales promotions and direct marketing, including how advertisers can use certain types of personal data and the non-receipt of mail order items.  Other rules cover ads aimed at children and ads for alcohol, health products, beauty products, financial services, employment and business opportunities, and gambling.  There are also rules governing the types of ads that can be shown around certain programmes.

How to make a complaint

It only takes one complaint to launch an investigation, and we’ve made sure the complaints procedure is fast and fair.

First, decide whether your complaint is covered by the ASA – among the types of complaints we look into are those about the content of ads, the administration of sales promotions, the availability of advertised goods and services, the protection of privacy, unwanted mail and the non-delivery of goods, promotional items or refunds.

If it is, send us your complaint – soon afterwards, you’ll be given the name of the person who will handle the case and be your point of contact from now on.  Use our online complaints form to make a complaint.

We aim to reach a decision on all but the complex complaints within a month, and will keep you informed at regular intervals.

All complaints are anonymous unless you are asking us to get you name taken off a mailing list or you are complaining on behalf of your company.  Also there is no charge for making a complaint as all of the ASA’s costs are met by a levy paid by advertisers.

What happens once we’ve received your complaint

Depending on its seriousness, we can often resolve a complaint very quickly.  For instance, we can have an ad changed if it’s a minor mistake, get your name taken off a mailing list or chase up an undelivered mail order item on your behalf.  If it’s not that simple, or a serious breach of the Codes is involved, then a formal investigation might be required.

If a formal investigation is need the ASA Council will rule on the matter (there’s more information on the Council below).  The Council will decide whether the Codes have been broken and we’ll publish their  Adjudication on this site.  To make sure everything is absolutely fair, there is also an Independent Review Procedure in place.  In the rare instance where a substantial flaw of process or adjudication is apparent, or where additional relevant evidence becomes available, the Independent Reviewer of ASA Adjudications can ask the Council to reconsider its original decision.

Once the Council has made a decision, the advertisers must make sure that the ruling has been followed, whether that means changing an ad or withdrawing it.  Our Compliance team will ensure that Council’s rulings are acted on.

The ASA Council

The ASA Council is the body that adjudicates on formally investigated complaints.  It has an independent Chairman and the majority of its members come from outside the advertising industry.  The members who are from within the industry bring a huge amount of valuable experience and do not act as representatives of their companies while sitting on the Council.

What happens if your complaint is upheld

If your complaint is upheld, the advertiser is not allowed to use that ad or the advertising approach in any future marketing communications.  Specifically, there can be a number of consequences for advertisers:

The ruling will be published on our website, often leading to bad publicity for the advertiser.

Media owners and broadcasters will refuse to run ads that break the Codes.

Direct marketing companies can have benefits such as Royal Mail bulk mailing discounts removed if they persistently flout the Codes.

The advertiser can be referred to the Office of Fair Trading for misleading ads and impermissible comparisons and broadcasters can be referred to Ofcom for persistently airing ads that break the rules.

How the self-regulatory system works

Consumer protection laws in the UK are some of the strongest in the world, but the advertising industry’s Codes go even further to safeguard the interest of the consumer.  It’s a system that’s been working well for over 40 years.

The advertising industry takes responsibility for the Codes itself through the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), an industry body made up of advertisers, sales promoters, direct marketers and interactive advertisers, agencies and media owners.  CAP is divided into two parts – Broadcast and Non-broadcast.  The Broadcast arm deals with TV and radio advertising, while the Non-broadcast arm covers all other forms of advertising, sales promotions and direct marketing.  CAP is advised by the Advertising Advisory Committee on broadcast matters, a body whose non-advertising members bring a consumer’s eye view to CAP’s work.

The ASA is the body that investigates complaints about advertising which breaches the Codes – it is a one stop shop which, as well as investigating and ruling on complaints, conducts research into how well advertisers are following the Codes of Practice. 

The majority of UK advertising is within the Codes, but for the few who persistently flout the rules we can rely on the backing of the Office of Fair Trading and Ofcom.  We can, for example, refer a broadcaster to Ofcom if a licensee is not sticking to the rules, or we can refer an advertiser, agency or publisher to the OFT if they persistently run misleading ads that breach the Codes.

The Advertising Standards Board of Finance (Asbof) funds the self-regulation of non-broadcast advertising by a levy on display advertising and direct mail.  Likewise, the Broadcast Advertising Standards Board of Finance (Basbof) funds broadcast advertising co-regulation by a levy on advertising airtime costs.  The arm's length system keeps the ASA independent from its funders. 

Where to go for further help

If we don’t cover the area of advertising or the issue you want to complain about, there are several alternative regulatory bodies that might be able to help:

For complaints about financial advertising, call the Financial Services Authority’s hotline on 08457 300 168

If your complaint is about packaging, misleading shop window displays and contractual disputes, you can contact Trading Standards through your local council or at www.tradingstandards.gov.uk

To complain about phone-paid goods and services, contact PhonepayPlus on 0800 500 212

Complaints about editorial in newspapers and magazines are handled by the Press Complaints Commission – 020 7831 0022 or www.pcc.org.uk

To reduce the amount of direct mail you receive from UK based companies, contact the Mailing Preference Service on 0845 070 0707 or www.mpsonline.org.uk

To opt out of receiving unsolicited sales and marketing faxes at home, call the Fax Preference Service on 0845 070 0702 or www.fpsonline.org.uk

To opt out of receiving unsolicited sales and marketing telephone calls, contact the Telephone Preference Service on 0845 070 0707 or www.tpsonline.org.uk

To make a complaint about the content of a television or radio programmes, contact Ofcom on 0845 456 3000  www.ofcom.org.uk

If you’d like to make an advertising complaint or find out more about what we do, you can contact us on:

Telephone: 020 7492 2222

Fax: 020 7242 8159

E-mail: enquiries@asa.org.uk

You can also complain via our online complaints form.

Or you can write to us at: