REGULATION OF MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS PRACTICES 575ICC codes
Th e ICC has issued several codes, including an International Code of Advertising Practice
(1997), Sales Promotion (2002), Direct Marketing (2001), Sponsorship (2003), Children and
Young People (2003), electronic media (2004), etc.^116 According to these codes, marketing
communications should not contain statements or visuals which off end, denigrate, mislead
or abuse the trust of consumers or another party. Consumers should be able to recognise the
communication as a marketing tool. No testimonials should be used ‘unless they are genuine,
verifi able, relevant and based on personal experience or knowledge’. All marketing com-
munications tools should avoid imitation of competitive and non-competitive actions in case
this imitation might mislead or confuse consumers. For sales promotions, it should be clear
to consumers how they can obtain the promotional off er (i.e. what the exact conditions are),
the value and nature of the promotion should not be misrepresented, and any geographic,
age, quantity or other restrictions should be clearly indicated. Concerning children and
young people, marketing communications may not be framed in a way that takes advantage
of their youth or lack of experience or that strains their loyalty towards their parents or
guardians. In the case of direct marketing or sales promotions, no products should be
delivered for which consumers have to pay unless consumers have requested the supply of
these products. Also, no off ers that could be perceived as bills or invoices for unordered
products should be made. Moreover, data can be collected ‘for specifi ed, explicit and legiti-
mate purposes only’ and consumers should be provided with the opportunity to ‘opt out’
from marketing lists or to require that their data cannot be handed over to third parties. Th is
has a serious impact on the possibilities of creating or buying databases with the intent to use
them for direct marketing purposes.European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA)
EASA,^117 created in 1992, is Europe’s single voice for the advertising industry and acts as a
co-ordination point for the self-regulatory bodies of the respective European countries. Th e
latter should not imply that Europe will come under one general system for all its Member
States, but rather that all main principles will be adopted. As the director-general of EASA
puts it: ‘We must be careful of a one size fi ts all approach and allow markets the freedom to
develop a system which responds to the EASA’s Common Principles as well as the needs of
that particular country, its advertising concerns and consumers.’^118 Th e EASA principles exist
in addition to other European (and national) laws such as the prohibition of having more
than 12 minutes of commercial messages an hour, the prohibition on tobacco advertising
and the prohibition of associating alcohol consumption in advertising with driving, physical
performance, social or sexual success or therapeutic qualities.
EASA has three major goals: to promote self-regulation; to support existing self-regulatory
systems; to ensure that cross-border complaints are resolved speedily and eff ectively. For
example, the Italian self-regulatory offi ce ran an advertising campaign on TV, radio, press and
poster sites with the tagline ‘We love advertising so much that sometimes we have to restrict
it.’ Th e ads featured a heart covered by a seatbelt and had the purpose of informing Italian
consumers of the role of the Istituto Autodisciplina Pubblicitaria. In Belgium, a website was
launched inviting consumers to fi ll in an online complaint form.
In 2010, the 26 self-regulatory bodies, members of EASA, received over 53 000 com-
plaints. Th e number of complaints remains relatively stable over the years ( Figure 16.2 ). Th e
countries with the highest adspend also received most complaints: the UK and Germany
account for 73% of all complaints. In 2010, one-third were based upon the alleged misleading
character of the ads, and another 25% were deemed to be off ensive (taste and decency). Nine
per cent of the complaints were based on the inappropriateness for children, and another
9% had to do with discrimination and denigration. Seven per cent were related to gender
portrayal. In the category ‘taste and decency’, the majority of the complaints were related to
ads being off ensive (61%), 19% on the basis of the alleged inappropriateness for children, andM16_PELS3221_05_SE_C16.indd 575M16_PELS3221_05_SE_C16.indd 575 6/6/13 8:59 AM6/6/13 8:59 AM