The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the self-regulatory organisation (SRO) of the advertising industry in the United Kingdom. The ASA is a non-statutory organisation and so cannot interpret or enforce legislation. However, its code of advertising practice broadly reflects legislation in many instances. The ASA is not funded by the British Government, but by a levy on the advertising industry.
Its role is to "regulate the content of advertisements, sales promotions and direct marketing in the UK" by investigating "complaints made about ads, sales promotions or direct marketing", and deciding whether such advertising complies with its advertising standards codes. These codes stipulate that "before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove all claims, whether direct or implied, that are capable of objective substantiation" and that "no marketing communication should mislead, or be likely to mislead, by inaccuracy, ambiguity, exaggeration, omission or otherwise".
Guy Parker has been Chief Executive of the ASA since June 2009. His salary for this role is £120,000.
The ASA is the UK's independent regulator of advertising across all media, including, from 1 March, marketing on websites. We work to ensure ads are legal, decent, honest and truthful by
applying the Advertising Codes.
BCAP is responsible for writing and maintaining The UK Code of Broadcast Advertising.
CAP is responsible for the rulebook The UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising, Sales Promotions and Direct Marketing. Non-broadcast means ads in media such as cinema, press, posters and online.
Ad
A press ad, in Venue magazine, a Bristol Metro supplement, featured an image of the Virgin Mary holding a disco ball to advertise a themed club night. Text stated "EVERY SATURDAY THEKLA BRISTOL FREE ENTRY BEFORE 10PM GUILTY POP PLEASURES FOR SINNERS POP CONFESSIONAL WWW.POPCONFESSIONAL.CO.UK".
Response
Daybrook House Promotions Ltd (DHP) said the term "Pop Confessional" was similar to the idea of "guilty pleasures", with people invited along to partake in an event that they enjoy despite feeling guilty about it. The event invited people to come along, confess their sin of poor music taste to the DJ, and their music would be played. They said the event aimed to attract 18 - 30 year-olds in Bristol who were musically fashionable, which was why the ad was published in Venue, a small regional music publication that was targeted at that particular market.
DHP said the poster was a light hearted pun on the notion of sinning, and said sinning had wider non religious connotations in modern society than its traditional meaning. They said the image did not negatively portray a religious figure, and was not mocking just because it was juxtaposed with the modern image of a disco ball. They added they had used the ad and similar imagery at their Nottingham venue since 2007 and received no complaints.
Venue Publishing said The Metro was a free paper aimed at young commuters, with significant content regarding entertainment and nightlife for that demographic. Because of that readership, they said they were surprised at the complaint, and believed it was very unlikely any regular readers were offended by the ad. They added that they had received no complaints themselves about the ad.
Assessment
Not upheld
The ASA understood that DHP's intention was to light heartedly play on the idea that enjoying certain types of music was something people were ashamed to admit. We acknowledged that notions of sinning and confession originated from a religious context, but considered that they had become embedded in secular society with a wider application, especially amongst the intended audience. While we understood some readers may have found it distasteful to use the Virgin Mary to promote a nightclub, we did not consider that the ad portrayed religion negatively, and considered that most of the young and fashionable audience of the magazine were likely to interpret the ad as a tongue-in-cheek joke at poor music taste, and not a joke at the expense of Christianity or Catholicism. We therefore concluded the ad was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence, or that it mocked Christians, and Catholics in particular.
We investigated the ad under CAP Code (Edition 12) Clause 4.1 (Harm and Offence) but did not find it in breach.
