Review of the ASAI code of Advertising

[Brendan Burgess]

The Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland

review their codes every five years to determine whether any additions, modifications or deletions are necessary.

Submissions can be made by writing to ASAI, IPC House, 35 Shelbourne Road, Dublin 4 by 29 July 2005.

The existing Codes are at www.asai.ie

 

[daltonr]

Brendan,

Do you think this is worthwhile?
I've danced the ASAI dance a few times, and even when a complaint is upheld it feels like a pretty pointless exercise since in all probability the Ad campaign has already done it's job.

ASAI is the advertising industry marketing itself as accountable, a claim that has about as much substance as anything else that industry produces.

-Rd

 

[Brendan Burgess]

Hi Rd

I think you are making some interesting points and I genuinely think that they are worth making to the ASAI as part of the submission.

I complained the BCP Quadruple Growth Bond to the ASAI and they appeared at first to be very professional. But then they referred it to IFSRA, who found no problem with the Bond. I think that teh ASAI would be better able to deal with a financila complaint than IFSRA and I will probably make a submission accordingly.

Brendan

 

[daltonr]

I think that teh ASAI would be better able to deal with a financila complaint than IFSRA and I will probably make a submission accordingly.

Can you say that again? Are you saying that the ASAI are in a better position to see problems in the advertising of a financial product than IFSRA? That's a pretty wild statement.

Given the way figures and statistics can be manipulated I'd expect IFSRA to be better able to tease out a Financial Ad and see if it is truthfull.

At the moment a consumer who hears wild claims about a financial product in an Ad also hears a tag line saying that the company is regulated by IFSRA. To the average consumer that's a seal of approval that the Ad is telling the truth. They don't hear ASAI giving approval, it's IFSRA.

Now IFSRA will claim they regulate the Companies, and they satisfy themselves that the product meets certain standards, but at the end of the day their tag line is attached to advertisements. If there is a lie in an advertisement and that lie is followed by an IFSRA Tag line, then IFSRA need to deal with the Lie. It might be a great product, but if it doesn't do what it says in the Ad then IFSRA have colluded in hoodwinking any consumer who buys on the basis of the Ad.

I would say that IFSRA should only allow their tag line to be attached to Ads that they approve. If they reject an ad then the advertiser should be forced to either pull the ad or air it with the alternative IFSRA Tag line.

"The Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority has deemed this Advertisment to be a misleading representation of the product or service being advertised."

This would actually keep dishonest Ads off the air. Which beats the current system. Of course IFSRA would need to be able to recognise a lie. They didn't seem up to that on the PTSB "Highest Interest Rate" claim.

-Rd