My momma always said that life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.

1994 was the year that Forrest Gump spoke those famous words. Fortunately, with the ASA system of advertising self-regulation, you could always rely on what you would get: a regulator who took action against misleading ads, but also proactively monitored compliance with the Codes across sectors, and educated advertisers about how best to comply with the Codes.

Our Annual Report tells us that the buzz phrase of the year was the “information superhighway”, and that we were looking forward to the changing face of advertising, such as “screens on buses, home shopping and video-on-demand”.

We also noted that CAP’s Copy Advice was more accessible than ever, with dedicated telephone and fax lines. Requests for Copy Advice via the fax machine arrive with much less frequency in 2012, with more advertisers choosing to contact the team directly by phone, or via the online submission form.

1994 saw the launch of the re-written and re-designed British Codes of Advertising and Sales Promotion, coming into effect 1 February 1995. The most significant additions to the Codes were new sections relating to rules on motoring and environmental claims. There were also a number of new rules, one of which related to slimming advertisements, banning the suggestion that it was in any way desirable to be underweight.

And finally, a great deal of attention was given in the Report to the European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA). With Luxembourg joining in 1994, all twelve members of the European Union were now EASA members, helping to promote advertising best practice across borders.

Also with a European flavour was one infamous case from 1994 about a British Rail ad for Inter-Rail tickets depicting the EU flag with the twelve stars replaced with yellow condoms. The ad was headed “Inter-Rail. You’ve got the rest of your life to be good”, and referred to the European Commission’s year of ‘Europe Against AIDS’ campaign.

A significant number of complaints to the ASA argued that the ad might encourage promiscuity, as well as being denigratory to the EU, with the ASA agreeing in its final adjudication.

Read the 1994 Annual Report here.

More on

  • Keep up to date

    Sign up to our rulings, newsletters and emargoed access for Press. Subscribe now.