Actor Matthew Bearne on the shaky set of the ASA's commercial. Photo by Phil Miller.
The Advertising Standards Authority is launching a new ad campaign on Wednesday 21 September. Designed to raise public awareness of the ASA, what it does and why, the campaign will appear across all media. Focusing on what the ASA is good at – removing ads that are offensive, harmful or misleading, the campaign also highlights what the ASA is less good at, making ads of its own!
The question the public may well ask when they see the ads is, “could these be the worst ads ever?”. Quite deliberately, the ads fail to dazzle or impress the public with their creativity and production values. But the ASA is not worried if its ads do not win any awards, the message being that the ASA is only here to keep advertising standards high.
The ads will run in space donated by the advertising industry. The industry has previously supported ASA campaigns - the last one by the regulator was in 1997 - demonstrating their commitment to promoting the effectiveness of the self-regulatory system.
The TV ad, the first time the ASA has advertised using this medium, reflects the ASA’s new responsibility for regulating broadcast advertising. The idea for the campaign was developed by Columns Design and director Michael Keillor. The ad features Matthew Bearne who appears on a very low budget set pretending to drive a car in front of an obviously fake backdrop. Whilst talking to camera he explains that though the ad he is in “may be a bit rubbish” it is in fact a “good” ad because it doesn’t break any of the rules that all advertisers have to follow. The ads in the non-broadcast media follow a similar theme, the ASA doesn’t make good ads itself but it does remove bad ones.
Approaching its first anniversary as the one-stop shop for all advertising complaints, the ASA is on course to receive 30,000 complaints this year, representing a 33% increase on 2004 (including complaints received by Ofcom). In a year that has seen the ASA adjudicate on many high profile ad campaigns, ranging from the surreal - nightmare inducing blobs of Marmite - to the sinister - murderous themed mailings promoting CSI:NY on Channel 5 - the advertising regulator is well attuned to public feeling towards advertisements. The significant rise in complaints highlights the benefit to consumers of knowing where to complain together with the ASA’s commitment to listening to their concerns.
Of the new ad campaign ASA Director General, Christopher Graham says; “It’s probably the toughest brief you can give an agency – make an ad for the advertising regulator. Whilst we’ve had fun with the campaign, acknowledging that we should leave good advertising to the professionals, the message to consumers is clear. The ASA is here to ensure ads aren’t harmful, offensive or misleading and we are determined to keep advertising standards high.”