BCAP TV Code

The BCAP Television Advertising Code - section 5 - misleading advertising

5.1 Definition of misleading advertising

• 5.1 (old)
  Rule 5.1 has been replaced by rule 5.1.1
   
• 5.1.1
  No advertisement may directly or by implication mislead about any material fact or characteristic of a product or service
• 5.1.2
  No advertisement may mislead by omission about any material fact or characteristic of a product or service or advertiser
  Notes:
  (1) See also 7.1 (Misleading advertising and children) for additional rules about advertising for products and services likely to be of interest to children.
  (2) Advertising is likely to be considered misleading if, for example, it contains a false statement, description, illustration or claim about a material fact or characteristic. Material characteristics include price, availability and performance. Any ambiguity which might give a misleading impression must be avoided.
  (3) Even if everything stated is literally true, an advertisement may still mislead if it conceals significant facts or creates a false impression of relevant aspects of the product or service.
  (4) Scientific terms or jargon, statistics and other technical information should not be used to make claims appear to have a scientific basis that they do not possess. Equally, statistics of limited validity must not be presented in such a way as to mislead, for instance by implying that they are universally true.
  (5) An advertisement may be misleading even if it does not directly lead to financial loss or a misguided purchasing decision. The ASA and BCAP may also regard an advertisement as misleading if, for example, it causes viewers to waste their time making enquiries, only to find that offers are unavailable or that there are important limitations. This could involve encouraging viewers to visit shops, or to make lengthy telephone calls.
  (6) When assessing whether an advertisement is misleading, the ASA and BCAP consider the overall impression likely to be conveyed to the average consumer who it reaches. They do not consider the intentions of the advertiser, nor simply whether the advertising meets legal or other regulatory requirements.
• 5.1.3
  Advertising must not omit, hide or provide in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner material information if that omission or presentation is likely to affect consumers’ decisions about whether and how to buy the advertised product, unless the information is obvious from the context. If the advertisement is limited by time or space, the ASA will take into account steps that the advertiser has taken to make that information available to consumers by other means.
• 5.1.4
  For advertisements that quote prices for advertised products, material information includes:

   

  (a) the main characteristics of the product

   

  (b) the identity (eg trading name) and geographical address of the advertiser and any other trader on whose behalf the advertiser is acting

   

  (c) the price of the advertised product, including taxes; or where the nature of the product is such that the price cannot be calculated in advance, the manner in which the price is calculated

   

  (d) delivery charges

   

  (e) the arrangement for payment, delivery, performance or complaint handling, if those differ from the arrangements that consumers are likely to reasonably expect

   

  (f) that consumers have the right to withdraw or cancel, if they have that right.