First Three E-Cigarette Spots Are All Banned By U.K. Regulator
Source: Ad Age
The spots for E-Lites, SKYCIG and Ten Motives – the only commercials for e-cigarettes to have aired on U.K. television – were banned for failing to clearly identify the product being advertised. The E-Lites ad was also banned for being appealing to children.
A spokesman for the ASA, the U.K.'s independent industry regulatory body, said, "These rulings set an important precedent. It's a useful benchmark for the sector: useful for consumers to know that we are responding to their concerns, and useful for practitioners in the sector to see how the rules are applied."
In their efforts to comply with the ad codes, the marketers were guilty of lack of clarity. All three spots are pretty obscure because they try so hard not to promote smoking that they neglect to mention what the product does. While they were condemned for being misleading, the ads were cleared by the ASA of being "irresponsible and harmful."
The ASA spokesman denied the codes are confusing. He said, "The codes are clear, they show what you can and can't do, but these are the first cases and there are some initial teething problems." The ASA deliberately grouped the three rulings together in the same week to avoid singling out one particular e-cigarette marketer. The codes relating to e-cigarettes state that they cannot be advertised to children, refer to smoking, or have a name or design that an audience might associate with a tobacco product. And marketers can't claim that they are healthier than smoking regular cigarettes.
Read more: http://adage.com/article/global-news/3-e-cigarette-spots-banned-u-k-regulator/244349
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