New Food And Drink Ad Restrictions To Extend To Non-Broadcast
The Committee for Advertising Practice has confirmed that restrictions on food and drink advertising to under-16s are to be widened to cover non-broadcast media from 1 July.
CAP’s new rules cover all food and drink products except fresh fruit and vegetables and extend advertising restrictions to media such as magazines, paid-for ad space on the internet, newspapers and billboards and cinema.
The restrictions follow on from Ofcom’s ban on high fat, salt and sugar food advertising, which applies only to television ads (see Ofcom To Phase In HFSS Restrictions).
The new CAP advertising restrictions state that products should not “condone or encourage poor nutritional habits or an unhealthy lifestyle in children”.
They continue on to say they should not “encourage excessive consumption of food or drink products; use promotional offers in an irresponsible way; use ‘high pressure’ or ‘hard sell’ techniques; or give a ‘misleading impression’ of the nutritional health benefits of the product”.
In addition there is a ban on the use of licensed characters and celebrities popular with children in campaigns aimed directly at pre-school or primary school children. But manufacturer’s own characters, such as Frosties’ Tony the Tiger, are still allowed.
“These comprehensive new rules are designed to help protect children’s health while still allowing advertisers an appropriate degree of freedom to promote their products,” said Andrew Brown, chairman of CAP.
The Advertising Association’s Food Advertising Unit (FAU) has welcomed the new CAP rules, with chief executive, the Baroness Buscombe, saying: “The new CAP rules on food advertising to children are tough but fair. They demonstrate the industry’s commitment to responsible and effective self-regulation, and address the issues raised in the Government’s Choosing Health White Paper.”
The IPA has also responded, with Marina Palomba, IPA’s legal director, saying: “The IPA recognises there is a perceived need to restrict the advertising of foods and soft drinks to help prevent obesity in children, and that restrictions cannot be limited to broadcast advertising alone.
“The new CAP rules for non-broadcast advertising ensure that similar restrictions already introduced for broadcast advertising are applied across other media. The rules go further than those for television commercials and television programme sponsorship, and apply to all food and drink products except for fresh fruit and vegetables, as such the rules ought to be welcomed by those critical of advertising as the alleged, albeit unsubstantiated, cause of obesity.”
CAP: www.cap.org.uk/cap Advertising Association: www.adassoc.org.uk Ofcom: www.ofcom.org.uk IPA: www.ipa.co.uk