The British Attempt to Restore Order in Web 2.0 Ads
For today’s post, let’s first take a trip back to London, 1910:
“Mary Poppins: Now! Shall we get on with it?
Jane: Get on with what?
Mary Poppins: In your advertisement, did you not specifically request to play games?
Jane: Oh, yes!
Mary Poppins: Very well then. Our first game is called ‘Well Begun is Half-Done’…
Michael: I don’t like the sound of that.
Mary Poppins …otherwise entitled, ‘Let’s Tidy Up the Nursery’”.
Michael: I told you she was tricky!”
Ah the British… so neat, so orderly, so astoundingly capable, with a clever phrase and an affected accent, to make something so ordinary and unpleasant sound so intriguing. So who better than the practically perfect Mary Poppins to personify the recent decision by the British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to clean up internet advertising practices and regulate marketing and brand activity on social media websites?
The ASA, governed by a set of codes called the Committee of Advertising Practices (CAP), regulates the content of advertisements, sales promotions and direct marketing in the United Kingdom. Since the advent of social media, however, the ASA has received numerous complaints about the quality and content of online advertising, the majority of which has been outside of its jurisdiction.
Until now. Starting in September 2010, an amendment regulating TV, press, poster and radio ads will extend to all other form of marketing communications. This means that all advertisements seen on the internet, notably on Facebook and Twitter, will now have to be “responsible, legal, honest and truthful”, just as they are in television commercials and magazine ads. Somewhat more controversial: marketing claims on third party and corporate websites will also be subject to ASA regulation, hypothetically grounding misleading advertisements before they are launched.
In the end, the new regulations will be designed to ensure that the ads don’t offend or mislead, notably regarding the laws related to the marketing of alcohol, gambling, auto, health and financial products. ASA effectively describes the extension as a “direct and sensible response to people’s concerns about the protection of consumers and children online”. Rightfully so—the internet, though invaluable, is a proven tool for those looking to defraud. Although there remain several months until implementation, many eyes will be turning toward England to see if they can succeed where, up to know, everyone else has more or less failed: making the internet a proper place to advertise.
Courtesy of UK Marketing News and Click Z
