asa

1. Asa/Ofcom

2. who are Asa and what do they do?
ASA is the Uk’s independent advertising regulator across all
media. They apply advertising codes and act upon
misleading, harmful and offensive advertisements.They also
apply codes that regulate all advertisements in the UK. ASA’s
main aim is to make every adverts a responsible one.

3. Why are they important?
In my opinion ASA are important as they stop adverts from
being offensive. If the adverts weren’t regulated then the
adverts would be harmful to people, so therefore ASA is for
the good of the people. Also ASA are important because they
stop the audience of certain adverts being misleaded. For
example advert saying there product is cheaper than what it
actually is.

4. Why do you think advertising has to be regulated?
Advertising has to be regulated because if it wasn’t anything
could be shown and this could be offensive or harmful to the
audience. It also has to be regulated to avoid people being
scammed by fake products or fake prices.
Adverts have to be regulated to stop the advertising company
from being sued or in legal trouble over an offensive advert,
the regulator either asks for it to be changed or pulls the
advert, this helps it avoid complaints and possible legal
problems.

5. Who are Ofcom and what do they do?
Ofcom is a communications regulator. Instead of just
regulating advertising Ofcom regulate all of TV, radio sectors
and the airwaves which wireless devices operate. They
protect people from scams and make sure UK customers get
the best from their communications.

6. How are Ofcom funded?
Ofcom are funded by fees from industry for regulating
broadcasting and communications networks, and also grant-
in-aid from the government. Grant-in-aid is money from the
central government to help a specific project.This kind of
funding is usually used when the government and parliament
have decided that the recipient should be publicly funded but
operate with reasonable independence from the state.

7. What “act” do they operate under?
Procedure for making a disclosure to ofcom under the public
interest disclosure act (PIDA). This act gives legal protection
to employees against being dismissed or penalised by their
employers as a result of disclosing information which is
considered to be in the public interest.

8. What is the difference between Ofcom and the ASA?
ASA is about regulating advertisements and handling
complaints about them. Ofcom however, are based around
regulating all forms of communications. For example mobile
communications.

9. What are the BCAP codes?
BCAP codes are the regulations adverts are supposed to
stick to in order to make the advert harmless and inoffensive.
If an advert does not follow the regulations it will either be
made to change or be pulled.