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Debate over the use of sexual imagery in marketing has been reignited by - of all people - a ham maker and the National Trust. Lucy Handley looks at what [...]

Byline: Charlotte McEleny Despite seeming absent in the ad regulation space for sometime, Facebook is now stepping up by recruiting a specialist in the area. Last week I wrote about [...]

GOVERNMENTThree hubs of marketers will avoid duplication following the COI's demise. By Russell Parsons The government has unveiled the details of how it hopes to improve its coordination of marketing [...]

The Advertising Standards Authority is strengthening its expertise on child and family issues by appointing a former head teacher and the former chief executive of Barnardo's to the body that [...]

Regulatory changes and industry review findings are set to affect marketing practice and strategies This year changes to regulations are being introduced that affect the marketing community. Here we cover [...]

Watchdog says ad implied it necessary to subscribe to Sky Plus to get digital TV. By Rosie Baker Advertising watchdog the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled that a TV [...]

The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (Nesta) has drawn up guidelines that are designed to give more intellectual property rights to digital agencies working on government accounts. […]

ASA rejects 'scientifically proven' claim after reviewing academic reports. By Branwell Johnson The advertising watchdog has ruled that a television campaign for Danone's Actimel is misleading because it claims the […]

If US regulators get their way, celebrity endorsers better believe in brands or they could find themselves in legal difficulties Celebrity endorsements are now so commonplace that it seems hard […]

The Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA) has compiled a new report on payment-by-results (PBR) mechanisms drawing on a decade's worth of knowledge. The report has been devised to help […]

The Advertising Standards Authority has banned a TV ad for Southern Comfort because it appears to glamourise drinking. The ad, created by Arnold Worldwide, features a group of friends at […]

WPP-owned 24/7 Real Media has become the first ad network to be suspended from IASH as it clamps down on ad misplacement. The network has been thrown out of the […]

The Advertising Association (AA) is to question the validity of the legal powers of lobby group Which?, in an attempt to probe into any possible link between its commercial and […]

With the news that the EU is looking into privacy issues of targeted online ads, the industry is confident it will find their policies don't infringe individuals' rights Last week […]

Advertisers should fight for their rights, but must balance that with self-regulation, restraint and a willingness to engage on social issues The critical issue is the one we're failing to […]

Full-scale debate planned as regulator's new chairman Chris Smith launches his first major initiative The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is launching a report into the use of violence in advertising […]

A television ad that makes light of borrowing large amounts of money has been rapped by advertising regulator the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The ruling comes as the Government is […]

Rimmel has become the latest cosmetics brand to be censured by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for using false eyelashes in a television advertisement for its mascara. The ad, which […]

Nigel Walley is MD of the Decipher Group; nigel.walley@ decipher.co.uk Recently I've been worried about the kind of world my kids are growing up in. Not gun crime/street violence/drugs, more […]

Food advertisers had been making significant attempts to modify the content and volume of food and drink advertising long before the regulators decided to intervene, according to the Advertising Association. […]

Retailer MFI has been rapped by the advertising regulator for depicting violent arguments in its advertising campaign as a normal part of domestic life. The ads, created by M&C Saatchi, […]

The ban on advertising HFSS foods to children offline led to brands seeking ways around it on the web. But, as Michael Nutley discovers, the AA has other ideas Last […]

Children must be protected from certain types of advertising, but the CAP Code does not provide the best framework for managing marketing communications online. Its scope means that a billboard […]

The Advertising Association is planning to launch a high-profile publicity campaign to promote the "positive" role of advertising, as it reassesses its role in the wake of an increasing threat […]

The advertising watchdog has banned a TV ad for the XBox 360 console featuring a car chase, following complaints that it encouraged dangerous driving. The ad, created by McCann Erickson, […]

Michael Grade has roundly condemned government restrictions on advertising as "nonsense", and is rallying broadcasters and advertisers to fight off further restrictions together. The ITV executive chairman says: "We have […]

Environment Minister David Miliband's proposed 'war on junk mail' has sent shockwaves through the industry. But is direct mail opt-in looming or is it just political posturing? If you are [...]

New York US direct marketers face the introduction of a national Do Not Mail file - modelled on the Do Not Call registry - amid claims it would decimate the [...]

So, two weeks into her chairmanship and Rosemary Smith faces what threatens to be the biggest challenge direct marketing has ever faced. In fact, it is no understatement to say [...]

Environment Secretary David Miliband's threat to force companies by law to get consumers to opt-in to receive direct mail has sent shockwaves through the industry. Miliband has pledged a 'war [...]

Sustain, the lobby group co-ordinating the campaign against "junk" food ads, has called on the Government to abolish ad industry self- regulation and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which supervises […]

Barring any further wriggling by the Government, the 'ban' on advertising junk food to children will begin in March. Governments used to legislate on moral issues - like no shagging […]

Apart from New Zealand, the US is the only industrialised country to allow ads for prescription drugs - and not everyone thinks it's healthy One of the first things British […]

The European Union (EU) may place stringent restrictions on use of product placement on TV. Plans include showing logos regularly to show that placement has been paid for and a […]

Ofcom's decision to ban TV advertising of foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS foods) to under 16s may signal the beginning of the end for self-regulation online. The […]

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled that a national press ad placed by the Gay Police Association (GPA), which suggested religious beliefs were behind a massive increase in homophobic […]

When you consider our fondness in the marketing and communications business for advanced thinking techniques (for example, Dr de Bono's Lateral Thinking and Jean-Marie Dru's Disruption), we are an unbelievably […]

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has split its benefit fraud business between Cheetham Bell JWT and Vallance Carruthers Coleman Priest following a pitch overseen by COI Communications. Incumbent […]

The Committee of Advertising Practice has launched its public consultation on proposals for new rules governing gambling advertising. The consultation is in response to the Gambling Act 2005, which comes […]

Tighter regulation of advertising for companies that offer compensation- claim services, a staple of daytime television in recent years, has moved a step closer, after the Compensation Bill cleared its […]

A television ad for Mattessons Fridge Raiders has been criticised by advertising regulator The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for scaring children. The ASA has upheld 61 complaints against an ad […]

As the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) readies itself for a review of the two-year probationary period of its co-regulatory contract with Ofcom, it is already signposting its achievements. In its […]

Online advertising could be held back from competing with traditional media because of fragmenting approaches to agency remuneration, the director general of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) has […]

Culture secretary Tessa Jowell is being challenged by controversial online betting site ThePool.com to clarify the Government's position and the law on gambling among 16- and 17-year-olds, and consider a […]

No one can tell yet what, if any, impact TUPE will have on direct marketing agencies. However, they need to prepare for the worst, rather than let it take them [...]

Agencies which win new business will be forced to hire account teams from the former incumbent shop - at a potential cost of hundreds of thousands of pounds - under [...]

Tourism Australia has been banned from using its 'national adjective' in a new ad campaign, but the mealy mouthed decision says more about us than them Thanks to the timely […]

Last week all the major names involved in search came together in New York to discuss the sector's rise into the mainstream and what developments are in store US search […]

As media owners begin to warn agencies that they're to start charging for ad copy delivered late, debate rages over whether it's the creative or media agencies at fault A […]

Following the European Parliament's vote on 13 December to adopt the data-retention directive drafted by the European Council, the data retention debate rumbles on. The European Parliament supported the Council's […]