Misleading Advertising
Advertising in the UK is mainly controlled through codes of practice. In the case of advertisements in the non-broadcast media, the Advertising Standards Authority oversees and acts to ensure compliance with the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing.
The Code is the body of rules the advertising industry draws up and agrees to abide by. In essence, it requires advertisements to be legal, decent, honest and truthful and to be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and society at large.
The Control of Misleading Advertisements Regulations 1988 (as amended) provides the legislative back-up to the self-regulatory system in respect of advertisements which mislead or which do not comply with the conditions under which comparisons are permitted in advertisements.
The Regulations require the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to investigate complaints. They empower OFT to seek, if necessary, an injunction from the courts against publication of an advertisement. More usually it would initially seek assurances from an advertiser to modify or not repeat an offending advertisement.
Before investigating, the OFT can require that other means of dealing with a complaint, such as the ASA system mentioned above, have been fully explored. Action by the OFT therefore usually results only from a referral from the ASA where the self-regulatory system has not had the required impact.
TV and Radio Advertising
Broadcast advertising is also subject to codes of practice. The Office of Communications (OFCOM) is the statutory regulator. OFCOM has delegated its powers to the ASA who deal with all complaints about such advertising. Government policy in respect of this sector rests with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Financial Promotions
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has a statutory duty to ensure that financial promotions are clear, fair and not misleading. The FSA encourages consumers to send in misleading adverts via their on-line reporting system.