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

Fischer Future Heat UK Ltd
- Upheld
- Leaflet
- 07 August 2019
A leaflet for Fischer heaters, seen in April 2019, on one side stated "10 YEAR WARRANTY*"; "Compatible with Economy 7 (19) and normal tariffs"; "100% COMPLETE HEATING GUARANTEE (1) ... Removing the uncertainty of heating. If our heater does not heat your room to 21 degrees C, we will replace it...
HDR Global Trading Ltd
- Upheld
- National press
- 14 August 2019
A newspaper ad for the cryptocurrency trading platform BitMEX, seen on 3 January 2019. The ad showed a graph spread across two pages. The horizontal axis was divided and labelled into six month units showing dates between January 2009 and January 2019. The vertical axis was labelled “Bitcoin Price In US Dollars&r...
Lidl Northern Ireland GmbH
- Upheld
- Regional press
- 14 August 2019
A regional press ad for Lidl, seen in the Belfast Telegraph between 15 and 19 January 2019, had a headline which stated "HEALTHY SAVINGS!" followed by text which stated "SAVE £46* VERSUS THE SAME SHOP IN TESCO". The ad showed two supermarket trolleys filled with different products. ...
BVG Group
- Upheld
- Brochure
- 03 July 2019
A brochure for Samuel Windsor, a menswear brand, seen in September 2018, stated on its cover page, “END OF SEASON SALE SAVE UP TO 70%”. The brochure included a number of products that were discounted against “TYPICAL HIGH STREET PRICE”: a. Page 4 included a listing for “THE FAMOUS SAMUE...

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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