Food advertising: digesting the new rules

22 May 2007

Always thinking about food? Fancy a bit of chocolate?  Don’t worry, you are not alone. But it’s not so much the consumption of food that has been preying on many people’s minds lately. The all-consuming thought occupying many in the ad industry was what the new advertising food rules were going to be and what the changes would mean for everyone involved in advertising food or drink products, especially those intended for children.

The advertising industry no longer has to hold its breath; the TV rules were announced in February and the non-broadcast rules followed in April. Now that they are out and the dust is beginning to settle, well just about, it pays to have a look at what the new restrictions are and how they differ for broadcast and non-broadcast media.

What are main requirements of the TV and non-broadcast codes?

• The underlying principle of the two codes is to ensure that the content of advertisements does not condone or encourage poor nutritional habits or an unhealthy lifestyle in children
• Ads must not encourage excessive consumption of food or drink products
• Ads must not encourage the purchase of food or soft drinks by using licensed characters, celebrities or promotional offers in ads intended for children
• No ad may promote the pestering of parents
• Ads must not promote consumption of a food purely to get a promotional offer
• Advertisers must not give a misleading impression of the nutritional or health benefits of the product.

What are the differences between the codes? 

• The TV Code includes scheduling restrictions
• Neither scheduling nor volume restrictions have been incorporated into the non-broadcast code. The rules are solely a set of content restrictions
• The TV Code uses the Food Standards Agency (FSAs) Nutrient Profiling model to restrict products that are assessed as HFSS (high in fat, salt or sugar) from being advertised to children
• The non-broadcast code rejects the Nutrient Profiling model. The rules apply to all foods except fresh fruit and fresh vegetables.

The new content rules for both codes will come fully into effect on 1 July 2007. The scheduling restrictions for TV have applied since 1 April, will become tougher at the start of 2008 and will apply fully to dedicated children’s channels on 1 January 2009.

To help advertisers adapt to the new rules, BCAP has already put on a training seminar at BAFTA, where BCAP Executives fielded and answered a host of questions from industry. And CAP will run a training session on the non-broadcast food rules on 5 June. The purpose of the training seminar is to guide agencies and marketing professionals through the rules to build their knowledge and understanding, explain how the rules will be applied and explore the impact the rules will have on food advertisements. CAP Copy Advice provides independent, fast, expert and confidential advice on the likely acceptability of your non-broadcast advertisements under the CAP Code.
 
It is highly unlikely that the implementation of the new restrictions will spell the end of the debate on food advertising and children. Health campaigners and consumer groups are lobbying the Government hard and continue to call for an outright ban on food advertising to children. The debate is still under an immense amount of scrutiny and in the full glare of the media. The codes have been tightened significantly; the onus is now on advertisers to familiarise themselves with the new rules and to ensure that their campaigns are beyond reproach.