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Yesterday, it was my pleasure to welcome Guy Parker, CEO of the Advertising Standards Authority for our annual 'fireside chat' webinar. We discussed various hot topics and priorities for the [...]

There can be few things worse than launching your Christmas campaign, then opening up your computer to be greeted by a social media post from someone claiming that you've ripped [...]

How many times have advertisers wished that they could get their ad on TV without having to get past the gatekeepers at Clearcast? With the advent of Broadcast Video-On-Demand, it [...]

Like most middle-aged men, I'm a small boy at heart. I like cars and ships and trains and even aircraft, provided I don't have to fly in them. So I [...]

The principle that the punishment must fit the crime has long since moved on from the notion that all miscreants must suffer the same punishment for the same offence. In [...]

Welcome to the latest edition of our Ads & Brands Law Digest, covering legal and regulatory developments from the last few weeks relevant to advertising, marketing and brand-owning businesses. As [...]

With just 4 days to go until the General Election, the sense of eager anticipation is almost palpable. The debates, the hustings, the water borne stunts - its all been [...]

1 Legal framework 1.1 What are the main legislative and regulatory provisions that govern advertising in your jurisdiction? The main legislative and regulatory provisions governing advertising are found in the [...]

In an usual but not unprecedented move, the Advertising Standards Authority has reviewed its own recent decision about Calvin Klein's ad featuring FKA Twigs. It appears to have done so [...]

Welcome to the latest edition of our Digest, covering legal and regulatory developments from the last few weeks relevant to advertising, marketing, and brand-owning businesses. As usual, for each item [...]

Today's decision by the UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to ban one out of three poster ads for Calvin Klein underwear on the basis that it objectifies women is somewhat [...]

Why has the ASA investigated these ads? And should it have done? Have you noticed the way that counties keep changing their names? The Czech Republic decided to become Czechia, [...]

Welcome to the August 2023 edition of our Digest, covering legal and regulatory developments from the last few weeks relevant to advertising, marketing and brand-owning businesses. As usual, for each [...]

On Friday 23rd June the UK's Advertising Standards Authority issued an updated version of their guidance on misleading environmental claims. The guidance updates the previous version, from December 2021, (although [...]

Those of us who worry about the unregulated nature of political advertising in the UK are usually driven by our anger about Boris's big lie on the side of the [...]

In the week when the United Nations has released another climate report, the European Union has published statistics stating that 94% of Europeans say that protecting the environment is important [...]

On the 8th February, the Advertising Standards Authority did the double, publishing its first two decisions about whether gambling ads have 'strong appeal' to the under-18s. In the first fixture, [...]

Yesterday, we covered the announcement that the Competition and Markets Authority is going to launch its investigation into misleading green claims for Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs). You don't need [...]

On Wednesday afternoon we held our Advertising & Marketing Law Annual Review. We again had a record number of guests tune in, so a huge thank you to all those [...]

By showing the proverbial red card to Ladbrokes, the UK's Advertising Standards Authority has signalled its zero tolerance approach to the application of the new 'strong appeal' test, in force [...]

Are you poacher? Or a game keeper? Personally, I'm a poacher. So, when the big global sporting events come round every couple of years, I always look forward to receiving [...]

I was heartened by the recent news that Adidas are dropping their association with Kanye West, following his remarks about Jews, which were somewhere between deeply offensive and bat**** crazy. [...]

A wise man once observed that 'Just because I'm paranoid, it doesn't mean they're not to get to me.' Well, not such a wise man, but Woody Allen, in the [...]

Welcome to the September 2022 edition of our Digest, covering legal and regulatory developments from the last few weeks relevant to advertising, marketing and brand-owning businesses. As usual, for each [...]

Today, Boris Johnson's time as prime minister will effectively draw to a close with the announcement of his successor, either Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss. While friends and foes may [...]

In another example of allowing perfection to the be the enemy of the good when dealing with accusations of green washing, the UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a [...]

President Macron of France has been polishing up his halo, as well as his green credentials, by announcing that France will be the first European nation to ban ads for [...]

Welcome to the August 2022 edition of our Digest, covering legal and regulatory developments from the last few weeks relevant to advertising, marketing and brand-owning businesses. As usual, for each [...]

The history of advertising is littered with ads banned for sexual or violent content, but one of the highest-profile adverts recently prohibited by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) features an [...]

As we have already reported, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has just published its Annual Report for 2021. One of the most useful aspects of the reports is that it [...]

The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has published the findings of its project which looked at the extent to which the portrayal of race or ethnicity in UK ads might [...]

Fortunately, it is quite unusual for the Advertising Standards Authority to uphold complaints about ads on the grounds that they are racist, but this Facebook ad by JD Recruitment has [...]

The European Commission has proposed legislation on transparency and targeting of political advertising, as part of measures aimed at protecting election integrity and open democratic debate. The proposed rules would [...]

This morning, the Advertising Standards Authority published its decision not to uphold complaints about a newspaper ad for the Land Rover Defender that appeared in the The Guardian on 12th [...]

In the first 'green claims' adjudication since the Advertising Standards Authority published its recent guidance on green claims (covered here), hot on the heels of Competition & Markets Authority's publication [...]

The release of any Bond movie is a cultural event eagerly anticipated by millions of people around the world. And the expectation around No Time To Die has been bigger [...]

One of the justifications for advertising in a capitalist democracy is that it lubricates engine of innovation. Without advertising, how can businesses generate the return on investment required for the [...]

The UK government has announced that it will be pressing ahead with its planned restrictions on the TV and online advertising of foods with high levels of fat, sugar or [...]

German clothing company KaiAviation has taught us a history lesson that Boris Johnson could learn from. He purports to be an historian, after all, although having read his biography of [...]

The concept of loyalty has been under severe strain this week. Dominic Cummings' excoriating denunciation of the mendacity and ineptitude of the Prime Minister and Health Secretary has been a [...]

While big budget advertising campaigns and overseas shoots begin to return to some level of normality, navigating COVID-19 and the related US entry ban remains challenging. Failing to include immigration [...]

When you read the Queen's Speech, it seems quite innocuous. 'Measures will be brought forward to support the health and well-being of the nation, including to tackle obesity and improve [...]

Today, the Advertising Standards Authority only published one formal adjudication, but it is an interesting one. The advertiser was an online 'fast fashion' clothing retailer, www.justyouroutfit.com. The claims under investigation [...]

According to reports on Easter Monday, 5th April 2021, the government is about to drop the proposed ban on online ads for HFSS foods which was mooted in a consultation [...]

This week, the Advertising Standards Authority banned yet another ad for a financial product which falsely claimed to be endorsed by Martin Lewis, the famous financial journalist and founder of [...]

For some months now, concern has been growing about a form of credit known as 'Buy Now, Pay Later' (or BNPL for short). At first sight, this may seem a [...]

I was shocked, genuinely, truly shocked watching the football this weekend. Not because Tottenham Hotspur managed to hold on to top spot in the Premier League, but because Dior are [...]

The UK government is consulting on a complete ban on the online advertising of food high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS). In particular, the government is asking about what [...]

This morning the ASA has published its decision to uphold 10 complaints about an ad published on the side of a bus by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals [...]

The long-awaited Guidance for Traders on Pricing Practices was finally issued by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSi) in December 2016. The previous guidelines had been around since the old [...]