Newspapers, magazines and printed materials

The non-broadcast advertising rules apply to all non-broadcast media including national and regional newspaper titles, magazines, leaflets, brochures, posters and other printed materials.

Like all ads, those seen in these types of media should not mislead, harm or offend. There are, however, some other more specific types of problems we see with ads in newspapers and magazines.

Front-page flashes are often used by advertisers to announce various types of promotions such as free product offers or discounts on holidays. The brevity of the flash can cause issues under our rules, with the most common problems being: not making clear that it is a token-collect scheme and multiple purchases of the publication are required; not making clear whether the promotional item is included in the publication or you have to send off for it; confusion about costs such as postage; and packaging when the product is advertised as “free” and not being transparent about restrictions or limitations such as limited availability.

We also commonly see complaints which query the evidence behind circulation and distribution claims made by newspapers and magazines. We normally consider these figures should be audited by an independent robust and industry recognised auditor, such as the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) and the advertiser should be able to provide evidence to support the figures on request.

We are unlikely to deem readership figures as accurate if they are based on: estimations; surveys; an assumption that members would pass on a publication to other people and that those people would then read the publications; or those extrapolated from circulation figures. Advertisers should also be careful not to describe their figures as circulation figures if they are in fact distribution figures.

Furthermore newspapers and magazines should be careful not to disguise advertorial content as editorial. Often we see newspapers publishing clearly distinguishable ads for a product at the bottom of a page and above the ad is text which looks exactly like a normal news article but is in fact information about the product including claims about its effectiveness. We see this as an intentional attempt to get around the advertising rules and advertorial content presented like this needs to be labelled clearly and in such a way the reader can see immediately that the whole page is an ad.

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Latest rulings

Strasse (UK) Ltd
- Upheld
- Magazine
- 29 May 2019
An ad for Strasse Garage, seen in the 911 and Porsche World Magazine on 28 February 2019 featured an image of the lower half of a woman’s body wearing a black fitted mini-dress and brightly coloured high heels positioned underneath a car, surrounded by car tools and a handbag. Text positioned across the image stated “A...
Lidl UK GmbH t/a Lidl
- Upheld
- National press
- 08 May 2019
A national press ad seen on 17 January 2019, featured the claims “YOUR MONEY'S WORTH MORE AT LIDL” and "Prices crunched all year round" above a photograph of four branded food products including Cathedral City cheddar cheese. Text below stated “£11.50 at Morrisons” and &ldquo...
DMG Media Ltd t/a The Mail on Sunday
- Upheld
- Internet (on own site)
- 17 April 2019
A national press ad and website listing for a Smart Plug, seen on 25 August 2018: a. The national press ad, seen on the front page of The Mail on Sunday, featured a bright pink background with bold, uppercase text that read “FREE* SMART PLUG”. Below that was smaller text also in uppercase that read &ldqu...
InnoGreen Chem
- Upheld
- Internet (on own site)
- 20 March 2019
A product brochure for InnoGreen, a heat pump manufacturer, seen on 4 October 2018 featured the claim "InnoGreen GeoPro is the only Thermal Fluid on the market that has been designed specifically for closed loop ground and water collectors. Its design & development was completed in response to requests by lead...

View all rulings

Newspapers, magazines and printed materials

The non-broadcast advertising rules apply to all non-broadcast media including national and regional newspaper titles, magazines, leaflets, brochures, posters and other printed materials.

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