Harmful

All ads should be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and society. They must not cause serious or widespread harm or use approaches that are likely to encourage socially irresponsible behaviour.

This includes not causing fear or distress without justifiable reason (and where justified, the fear or distress should not be excessive) and not condoning or encouraging unsafe practice.

We have upheld complaints about harm and social responsibility against a diverse range of ads including:

Alcohol – e.g. not encouraging excessive or unwise styles of drinking
Motoring – e.g. not encouraging motorists to drive irresponsibly such as at high speed or without a seatbelt
Health – e.g. not discouraging essential treatment of serious or prolonged ailments
Body Image – e.g. not encouraging an unhealthy diet or lifestyle including the depiction of extremely thin models

Particularly special care should be taken when ads are addressed to, or depict, children or young people. Ads that fall in to this category should contain nothing that is likely to result in a child’s physical, mental or moral harm and they should not exploit a child’s credulity, loyalty, vulnerability or lack of experience.

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Latest rulings

International Footcare Ltd
- Not upheld
- Television
- 01 September 2021
We did not uphold complaints that an ad for a shoe was sexist.
Mondelez Europe Services GmbH
- Not upheld
- Internet (website content), Social media (own site)
- 04 August 2021
An ad for a limited edition beer was not banned.
Turner Broadcasting System Europe Ltd
- Upheld
- Television
- 04 August 2021
A TV ad for life insurance was banned for inappropriate scheduling against children’s programming.
Cignpost Diagnostics Ltd
- Upheld
- Newspaper
- 21 July 2021
A newspaper ad for a PCR testing programme was banned for promoting behaviour that contradicted government advice on social distancing.

View all rulings

Harmful

All ads should be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and society. They must not cause serious or widespread harm or use approaches that are likely to encourage socially irresponsible behaviour.

Latest news

ASA statement on the regulation of environmental claims and issues in advertising

Gambling consultation update

ASA calls on advertisers to make better use of online targeting tools to minimise children’s exposure to age-restricted ads in mixed-age audience sites

The ASA system and mental health

Latest rulings

International Footcare Ltd

Mondelez Europe Services GmbH

Turner Broadcasting System Europe Ltd

Cignpost Diagnostics Ltd

Help getting it right

Popular advice

Food: HFSS Nutrient Profiling

Cannabidiol (CBD) containing products

Food: HFSS Media Placement

Relevant codes

04 Harm and offence

04 Harm and offence