Day 050 - 10 Nov 94 - Page 29

     
     1        covered by the Advertising Standards Authority, except
     2        television.
     3
     4   MS. STEEL:  How many complaints does the ASA get in a year?
     5        A.  I think it is in the region of 10,000.
     6
     7   Q.   So it is more than the -----
     8        A.  Yes.  You have to remember, as I was explaining before,
     9        all television and radio commercials are pre-vetted before
    10        they go on air.  Therefore, the number that you would
    11        expect to be deficient is small.  But, with a few
    12        exceptions, advertisements in the other media are not
    13        pre-screened before they are shown.  Therefore, inevitably,
    14        there will be more cases of complaint and more complaints
    15        upheld.
    16
    17   Q.   Do you know how many are upheld by the ads?
    18        A.  I would have to pluck a figure out of the air, but it
    19        would be a few hundred.
    20
    Q.   Just to move on to something slightly different:  you
    22        mentioned that the ISBA helps companies with their
    23        advertising?
    24        A.  Yes.
    25
    26   Q.   You said that you were using "advertising" as a shorthand
    27        to cover sponsorship and sales promotion.  Is that how it
    28        is generally seen in the industry, that promotional
    29        material and sponsorship would be included as part of
    30        advertising?
    31        A.  Not entirely.  But to avoid saying on these occasions
    32        "advertising and all the other things", I was using it in
    33        those circumstances as shorthand.  No.  The answer is that
    34        there are different criteria for judging different forms of
    35        promotion, but they all work, broadly, in the same
    36        conditions.
    37
    38   Q.   Right ----
    39        A.  For example, if in the course of a sales promotion or a
    40        sponsorship activity one made misleading statements, that
         would of course be wrong.
    42
    43   Q.   But your organisation, at any rate, sees that area as of
    44        concern to you; they are all sort of lumped in together, as
    45        it were?
    46        A.  Yes.  We work on anything in that area.
    47
    48   MR. MORRIS:  Is the ASA concerned with sponsorship and
    49        promotional material, as well as direct paid ads?
    50        A.  Yes.  It is concerned with sales promotion.  There is a 
    51        separate and related British Codes of Sales Promotion 
    52        Practice which covers sales promotions, things you may and 
    53        may not do in sales promotion.  It does not cover
    54        sponsorship, but it would cover any statements made in the
    55        course of the sponsorship.  As I said, they too would have
    56        to be legal, decent, honest and truthful.
    57
    58   Q.   What do you mean by "sales promotion material" or "sales
    59        promotion and material that would be relevant to sales
    60        promotion"?