How is the ASA funded?

The ASA is funded by advertisers through an arms length arrangement that guarantees the ASAs independence. The separate funding mechanism ensures that the ASA does not know which advertisers choose to fund the system or the amount they contribute. What exactly does the ASA do? The Advertising Standards Authority is the UKs independent regulator of advertising across all media. We apply the Advertising Codes, which are written by the Committees of Advertising Practice. Our work includes acting on complaints and proactively checking the media to take action against misleading, harmful or offensive advertisements. How does self-regulation of non-broadcast advertising work? There are many millions of non-broadcast ads published every year in the UK, so it would be impossible to pre-clear every one of them. For example there are more than 30 million press advertisements and 100 million pieces of direct marketing every year. How does regulation work after an advertisement has appeared and what sanctions can the ASA impose? ASA have rights to take adverts off if they have already been realised. Tesco: AD A TV ad, for Tesco, promoted half-price toys. The ad showed a "Peppa Pig" toy under a Christmas tree. A female voice-over stated "Toys, well, we all know Christmas is about putting a smile on children's faces". The shot cut to a small boy playing with a radio-controlled car. The voice-over continued "in the same way that Tesco, is about putting a smile on yours". The shot cut to a selection of toys under a Christmas tree. A red circle with the text "half price" appeared over the toys. The on-screen text stated "Selected UK stores, lines and availability. Ends 9 November". The voice-over stated "keep Christmas special at Tesco. Every little helps". Text at the bottom of the screen stated "www.tesco.com". Issue 1. Three viewers challenged the availability of the toys shown in the ad for half price. Argos challenged whether the ad was misleading because: 2. the white on-screen text that set out the limitations on the half-price toy offer was difficult to read against the background; and 3. they believed the ad implied all toys were half price, whereas only a small percentage were half price.

Response Tesco Stores Ltd (Tesco) said the promotion ran from 3 November 2008 to 9 November 2008 in their Extra and Superstore format stores and was also available online. In relation to the availability of the toys questioned by the complainants, they confirmed the number of units they had in stock before the promotion started, and the number of units still available at the end of the promotion period. They said they regretted that a small number of their customers were unable to obtain their desired product during the period of the promotion, but emphasized that the on-screen text stated "Selected UK stores, lines and availability. Ends 9th November" and included their web address. Clearcast said Tesco had confirmed before the ad was broadcast that all toys featured in the ad were at a 50% discount. They said the ad made clear in the on-screen text that the offers were available at selected stores and subject to availability 2. Tesco said the ad was authorised by Clearcast before broadcast, and that if there had been any issues with the on-screen text they would have expected Clearcast to reject it and they would have made the necessary amendments prior to resubmission. Clearcast said the legal text had been checked to ensure it was clearly legible, the correct height and held for the correct amount of time. They said it was clearly legible. 3. Tesco said they did not believe the ad implied all toys were half price. They said the on-screen text stated "Selected ... lines ... " and therefore they did not believe the ad implied all toys at Tesco were half price . They confirmed that the toys shown in the ad were available at half price for the duration of the promotion. Clearcast said the ad did not state that all toys were half price and the legal disclaimer indicated that the offer applied to selected lines. NSPCC: Ad A TV ad, for the NSPCC Full Stop Campaign, that showed a child standing in a cot. On-screen text stated "Miles is a quiet baby" and a male voice-over said "Miles has learned that nobody comes whether he cries or not". The next scene showed a girl holding a toy and on-screen text stated "Josie's always bumping into things". Male voice-over said "A DOOR, A TABLE, A FIST". On-screen text then stated "Tom doesn't tell his parents anything" and a male voice-over said "His abuser says he'll come and get Tom if he does. Sometimes we need to open our eyes to suffering that's all around us and work together to stop it. Please pledge just 2 a month to the NSPCC and be there for children in desperate need. Please, open your eyes and your heart. Call the NSPCC now on 0800 80 XX XX and give 2 a month or whatever you can. Together we can help stop cruelty to children. Full Stop. Let us start now."

Issue A viewer, a lecturer in childhood studies, objected that the claim "together we can help stop cruelty to children" was misleading, because although charitable work could reduce child abuse it could not stop it. Response The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) said their mission was to end cruelty to children and believed that, over time, this was an achievable aim for society as a whole. They said the FULL STOP campaigns inception arose as a result of the findings in the National Commission of Inquiry into the Prevention of Child Abuse report in 1996. The report concluded "Child abuse and neglect can almost always be prevented, provided the will to do so is there". They explained that if everyone took responsibility for the protection of children, child abuse could be significantly reduced and said their campaign sought to promote this approach. The NSPCC explained that the FULL STOP campaign had four objectives: to develop services for children and young people; to safeguard children and develop professional practice; to raise awareness of cruelty to children and change attitudes and behaviour; and to change law and social policy. They believed their campaigning had helped to change the law and create the new offence of "causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable adult" which meant the police were able to prosecute two parents who were responsible for the death of a child even when it was not known who was directly responsible. They believed that after ten years of the FULL STOP campaign, significant steps had been taken towards changing social attitudes towards abuse and moving towards ending cruelty to children. Clearcast endorsed the NSPCCs comments and believed it would be clear to viewers that the claim "together we can help stop cruelty to children" was the aim of the charity and did not imply all cruelty to children could be stopped. I have shown you two examples of how the ASA respond and deal with the complaints.