Case Study of Existing Advertising Campaigns researching the role and impact of Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and Ofcom

1) what is the background of the ASA?

It was established in 1962 by the Committee of Advertising Practice to supervise the working of the new self-regulatory system in the public interest. In 2008, the Control of Misleading Advertisements Regulations were repealed and replaced with the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations and the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations, with this being said, the ASA’s role as the ‘established means’ remains unchanged.

2) what is the role of the ASA in the regulation of advertisements?

The Advertising Standards Authority is an independent organisation that is set up by the advertising industry to regulate UK adverts. Their our work acts on complaints and checking the media to take action against misleading, harmful or offensive advertisements, sales promotions and marketing. The ASA is funded by a levy on advertising spend which is collected out of reach on behalf of the ASA by two bodies: the Advertising Standards Board of Finance and the Broadcast Advertising Standards Board of Finance.

3)  what is a legal standing of the ASA in relation to Ofcom?

The role of the ASA is to make sure advertisers follow the Advertising Codes. If or when advertisers break the rules from their advertisement being malicious, offensive or anything breaking the Advertising Codes, the ASA has the authority to get the advert removed and stop it from appearing again. The requirements for an advert must be legal, honest, decent and truthful. Ofcom are still contracted out a day-to-day responsibility for regulating TV and radio ads to the ASA. You can complain to the ASA:

• if you think an advert you’ve seen or heard is dishonest or misleading
• if there’s something wrong with the marketing on a company’s website or their social network site
• about a special offer, competition or prize promotion that you think is unfair
• if you’ve asked a company to stop mailing you by post, fax, text message or email but they are still contacting you
• if a company is sending you adverts via text message when they haven’t got your permission to do this or who aren’t making their identity clear
• some problems with goods you’ve bought by distance sale, including by internet, mail order or phone.

4) what are the procedures of the organisation?

It can take just one complaint for the ASA could launch an investigation where the result of which can be that an ad has to be removed. The ASA decides the fate of the advertisement based on the validity of the complaint and what codes are broken. The usual procedure would be to hold a formal investigation with the ASA Council to rule on the matter. They contact all parties involved; e.g the complainant, advertiser and the broadcaster and inform them of the process. They ask the advertiser and broadcaster to provide evidence for any claims they make and to provide justification about why they thought the ad was appropriate. They then overlook all evidence and facts to make a decision whether the rights of the Advertising Codes have been breached and make a final ruling every Wednesday.

5) what are the key parts of the code governing food and soft drink advertising and children and advertising that you think will be important to bare in mind for your advert?

The key to advertising food and drink is that the brand promotes a nutritional and healthy product, especially when aiming a product at parents for young children. Promoting an item that isn't considered healthy or appropriate would be reported and banned as a whole. An example of a banned food advertisement would be the Morrison's burger advertisement. It was banned and removed by the ASA for promoting unhealthy food and misleading information. In the advert, we see the mother at 0.10- 0.18 preparing and presenting the burger to her daughter and in 0.19 we see her take out the salad and vegetables and eat the burger on its own. Eating fatty produce foods isn't healthy and can lead to things such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and an increase in the chances of high cholesterol.

This is a second example of a banned advertisement. It was a 2014 Red Bull advert which connected itself to the Titanic. At the start of the advert, we see a crew member watching a stock of red bull being transported on to the ship, at 0.05 the captain tells the crew member to get it off the ship and then at 0.12, the captain then says "Why on earth would you need wings on a ship?.. Stupidest thing I've ever heard". Baring in mind the Titanic sank in 1912, the advert is almost insinuating that if they had Red Bull on the ship, it wouldn't of sunk and could of flown away with it's wings saving the thousands of passengers that died. This would be highly offensive to the relatives of the passengers on board and the company itself.

I have used this KFC advert as another example of a banned advert. The ASA banned it from television because of the number of complaints it made due to bad table manners. Throughout the advert, we see women singing with their mouths full because the food is so delicious but the outcome was different to how the broadcasters intended because many parents and viewers complained about children copying the advert like it was a good example and also it was quite uncomfortable to watch. I would make sure I don't have anything like this in my documentary to avoid children following my actions or viewers being uncomfortable watching it. 

My final example of a banned drinks advertisement would be the Lucozade Sport advert. In this advert, The television advert showed two groups of men, one drinking water and the other Lucozade Sport, running on treadmills while being monitored by technicians. A voice over then said: "At the limits of your ability, you need to replace the electrolytes you lose in sweat, keep your body hydrated, give your body fuel...Lucozade Sport gives you the electrolytes and carbohydrates you need, hydrating you, fuelling you better than water."  The ASA said the ad was misleading because it didn't state that the benefits of the drink wouldn't affect the body until they underwent prolonged endurance exercise. With this being said, broadcastor's removed the advertisement as it was almost feeding the public information that water isn't an effective mineral drink. 

When I make my advertisement, I will make sure I will respect and follow all the codes for food advertising to promote its healthy and nutritional value. I will also make sure that my advertisement will be honest and accurate to ensure my audience is fed the correct and suitable information.

Advertising Techniques and Associations - Line of Appeal

Overt

L'Oreal - Elnett Satin Hairspray 

The first advertising technique I will discuss will be Overt. This type of technique I where the advert is very obvious and clear about what product they are selling. I have chosen this advert as my example for Overt advertising because from the start to end, the audience already know what Cheryl Cole is talking about due to the product being shown at 0.06 . At the start of the advert, Cheryl Cole is looking at the camera and says "Spray it, up-do it", this indicates that Cheryl Cole is talking about a form of hair treatment due to the word 'spray' and the word 'up-do', which is a common hairstyle. In 0.08, we see an extreme close up shot of a brush going through someone's hair with Cheryl Cole saying " Brush it in, brush it out." With this being said, the audience would now be well aware that the product Cheryl Cole is talking about is hairspray. We also know that this advert is targeted more to women because Cheryl Cole is giving them tips on how to do certain hairstyles and get the look like hers with the hairspray. This is different to other competing products and stands out because it is advertising and celebrating a 50 year anniversary for L'Oreal and you don't see many hairspray anniversaries on television, so it is different and stands out for the public and see how successful it has been over the years and why people should still buy it because it could do so many things to your hair as Cheryl Cole had just demonstrated.
Hidden

Lynx - Even angels will fall

The second advertising technique I will talk about will be Hidden. This is where the product and the advertisement are completely separate so the advertisement will have nothing to do with the product or could seem quite confusing and could throw the audience off track. The advert I have chosen as an example for this would be the Lynx Angels Will Fall, I have used this advert because it is only at the end when we realise what the advert is all about and what it is advertising. start of the advert we see a young boy looking towards an alleyway and then we see something fall from the sky and crash land into a town square set in Italy everyone gathers around to see what just happened and to see what fell, as the crow passes with a glimpse of the woman and then a full shot without getting up with her wings on show, halo around her head and violins playing in the background. In 0.22, we see the angel look like dazed and confused about where she is and what she's doing, in 0.34 we see an establishing shot of the Italian city and faint blips of things falling from the sky presumably being angels falling from heaven and crashing into the streets. i personally get the impression that the location is Italy based on the music, the villages, the dress sense, the appearance of the people and with the fact that in 0.26 a man actually says "mama mia" which is an Italian phrase. In 0.57 the angels are walking very synchronized towards something and they all going in the same direction, we then we see a man going up to his motorbike and the angels all gather to surround him and breathe in. They then grab their halo rings and smash them onto the floor obviously indicating that they are not angels anymore. It isn't until 1.27 where we see the man spraying himself in a separate scene with a voice-over saying "New Lynx Excite. Even angels will fall." this is then followed by a crashing sound with a small feather coming from the rooftop. The hidden message in this advert was that if you spray yourself with this new Lynx spray, it will attract women from all over and even attract angels from heaven because of the seductive and amazing smell.

Emotional Responses or association

Compassion

Budweiser- Lost Puppy

The third advertising technique I will talk about would be emotional responses and associations. The first video I will analyse would be compassion because that is an emotional response I have used the 2015 Budweiser advertisement because it is one of my personal favorites and it is full of compassion and love. The Budweiser adverts are series adverts that are made every year in sponsor of the Superbowl. From 2014, the series have been spruced up a little and had a change from focusing on the Clydesdale horses and including a Labrador puppy. This year the advert was titled 'Lost Puppy', this instantly gives the audience an idea of what it will about. In 0.03 we are introduced to an adorable puppy living in a barn with the Clydesdale horses, their owner and trainer. There is also soft music playing in the background possibly representing the puppy's innocence and purity. The advert shows the journey the puppy goes through and how it affects the animals and the trainer which show how this little puppy has got so much love from both humans and other animals. At 0.11 we see the puppy jump into the back of a van and is unintentionally transported outside the farm and into a town. He then jumps out and try to find his way home, also as time goes by we see the trainer going out to the street handing out flyers, posting them on lamp posts and looking for the puppy which shows the sort of lost companionship and love he has for this dog. I believe -not just for myself but for the other people that have seen this advert- that from 0.31 on wards is the most touching scene in the advert because the puppy finds his way home. As he barks, declaring his return, he is then face to face with a wolf who had clearly been tracking the puppy for some time. 0.33 shows us the chilling scene where all the Clydesdale horses are kicking their stables in to escape and reach the pup. The best part of the advert for me, or the most compassionate scene, is where we see the close up shot of the horses galloping towards the puppy with the song in the background saying "i would walk 500 miles", scaring the wolf a away and then the amazing reunion of the puppy and owner at the end. This is a great example of compassion because it teaches the audience that compassion isn't just about humans, it's not just a human emotion- it's for all species and this is a very strong and powerful emotion to have.

Solution to a problem


Snickers- You're not you when you're hungry

I have used this advert as an example of my 'solution to a problem' technique because the advert is giving us an example of a problem where the Snickers bar is the solution and can fix everything. The advert is clear on where it is set and what's happening due to long shot at the very start of the advert. We then we Joan Collins from 0.02-0.14 throwing a child-like tantrum about someone taking her deodorant. In 0.15, another man comes up to her saying " Dan eat a Snickers ..because you turn into a right diva when you're hungry."  After Dan/Joan takes a bite of the bar, the man says "Better?" in a slightly patronising way. The scene then cuts back to Dan as a sweaty football player calmly saying "Better." As well as the slogan, this tells the audience that having a Snickers bar will solve what ever problem you are having, so you could say the company is describing their chocolate as a hero or peacemaker.

Celebrity endorsement


Chanel No.5 - Marilyn Monroe

The fifth and final advertising technique would be celebrity endorsemenot, this is where a celebrity makes an appearance to describe the product as a whole. There are thousands of adverts of celebrity's being in adverts related to their lives or job. Common examples of celebrity endorsement would be David Beckham with football equipment and Kate Moss with make-up. My ultimate favourite would be the late Marilyn Monroe with Channel No.5. I have chosen this advert because Marilyn Monroe is one of the most iconic and unforgettable women in the world, this was an original 1930's interview about Marilyn Monroe and how she lived her life and one of her answers to a question was so memorable and innocent that it will go down in history. At 0.04, she's telling an interviewer on a recording that they asked me what i wear to bed, she said "Do you wear pajama top? The bottom of the pajama? A nightgown and I said Chanel No.5!" With preventing any controversy about her comment she said in 0.18, "I don't like to say nude, but it's the truth... it's the truth." With this being said and by Marilyn explaining herself also showed what sort of person she was and how she was and still very much is an inspiration to women and young girls.