Advertising and Branding Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Advertising and Branding - Essay Example In Britain, the opposition of advertisements to the law has been related to their negative effects on health; in this context, advertisements that promote tobacco or unhealthy eating habits have been set under investigation (Lancaster and Lancaster 2003, Harrison and Cantor 1997, in Hargrave and Livingstone 215, 216). The process through which the content of advertisements in Britain is checked is clearly described in the relevant laws – including the rules of the Advertising Standards Authority, the authority that holds the responsibility for the alignment of advertisements with the law. It should be noted that the specific process is not related to particular political trends or beliefs; rather, it operates independently; this view is verified by the fact that the relevant efforts have been supported – since their first appearance in Britain - by the Labour and the Conservatives (Paulu 69); no differentiation has been identified in the willingness of the above parties to control the violation by advertisements of the local laws. In order to understand the process through which advertisements in UK are controlled for their content, it would be necessary to refer primarily to the laws used for the regulation of the particular activity. At a first level, it should be made clear that the opposition of the content of advertisements to the existing laws is considered as a violation of the relevant laws; this is a rule applicable on all advertisements – no matter if they are published in Britain or in the EU territory. In the last case, however, there is a power of the appropriate European authorities – referring to the European Standards Advertising Alliance – to intervene (Chissick and Kelman 246). This perspective needs to be mentioned in this paper, since Britain is a member of the European Union. Moreover, it should be made clear that in the context of European Union territory the content of advertisements is controlled using the ‘International Chamber of Commerce’s Code of Advertising Practice’ (Chissick and Kelman 246). This means that in Britain also, the potential use of the above legislative text cannot be rejected; however, the local laws regulating Advertising should be primarily used – reference would be made to the above legislative framework if the judges of the national courts consider such initiative as necessary. On the other hand, in a relevant report of the House of Lords it is noted that the European legal framework related to Advertising is not of particular value for the British market, since the national law on the specific field address all aspects of the specific activity, i.e. there are no gaps to be filled by the European legislation (Parliament, House of Lords 157). However, the above laws (European laws on Advertising) would be particularly valuable in the case of advertising developed in the context of electronic commerce – which is not limited in terms of boundaries. As for the British legal framework in regard to advertising, this is mainly consisted by the Advertising Codes – the ‘UK Code of Broadcast Advertising and the UK Code of Non-Broadcast Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing’ (ASA organization, website, Advertising Codes). It should be noted that the ‘ Committee of Advertising Practice and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice’ (ASA organization, website, Advertising Codes) have the responsibility for the development and the monitoring of the above Codes. The complaints related to the content of advertisements in Britain are investigated following a specific process – as set in the laws mentioned above. The Advertising