Unacceptable Products Index
4.1 Breath Testing Devices
4.2 Betting Tips
4.3 Betting and Gaming - deleted
4.4 Tobacco Products
4.4.1 Product and Service
4.4.2 Indirect Promotion
4.5 Private Investigation Agencies
4.6 Guns and Gun Clubs
4.7 Escort Agencies
4.8 Pornography
4.8.1 Adult Material
4.8.2 Less Explicit Material
4.9 The Occult
4.9.1 Exceptions
4.9.1.1 Horoscopes
4.9.1.2 Tarot
4.10 Commercial Services offering Individual Advice on Personal or Consumer Problems
4.11 Political and Controversial Issues
4.11.1 Advertisements
4.11.2 Status of the Advertiser
4.11.3 Exceptions
4.12 'Specific Product' Sections
4.13 Indirect Promotion of Unacceptable Products or Services
4.13.1 Websites
4.14 Specific Areas of Concern
4.14.1 Tobacco Products
4.14.2 Smoking in Advertising
4.15 Prescription Medicines
The Code prohibits advertising of some products and services.
The following may not be advertised at all and, importantly, no advertisement may be accepted which indirectly advertises one of these unacceptable products or services (Code rule 3.2).
(See ‘Indirect’... advertising in this section at 4.13).
4.1 Breath Testing Devices
Breath Testing Devices – or products which purport to mask the effects of alcohol.
4.2 Betting Tips
Betting Tips – note that this would include Sporting Newspapers and similar which advertised the fact they contained betting tips. Note however that Betting Tipster advertising is permitted on Teletext and interactive services and rules on this advertising can be found in the BCAP Advertising Standards Code for Text Services.
4.3 Betting and Gaming - deleted
4.4 Tobacco Products
All Tobacco Products – note that this extends beyond the simple advertising of cigarettes, cigars and tobacco. See also section 4.14.2 about smoking in advertising.
4.4.1 Product or Service
Where a product or service – for example a range of clothing or accessories or a sporting fixture – shares a brand name with a tobacco product and is prohibited by law from advertising in other media then it is unacceptable for television advertising.
4.4.2 Indirect Promotion
Indirect promotion of tobacco products or services is also prohibited (Code rule 3.2 and notes).
4.5 Private Investigation Agencies
These agencies are most commonly unofficial services seeking information which might subsequently be used in legal proceedings or the like.
4.6 Guns and Gun Clubs
The advertising of firearms and lethal weapons is prohibited as are Gun Clubs or organisations dedicated to the use of lethal weapons.
4.7 Escort Agencies
Escort Agencies – in this connection it is worth noting that bona fide dating and introduction agencies are permitted to advertise so long as they comply with Code rule 11.7.
4.8 Pornography
This includes ‘top shelf’ publications.
4.8.1 Adult Material
Advertising for some adult premium rate voice telephony services may prove acceptable for the encrypted elements of adult television services. Advertisers of such material are advised to contact the appropriate broadcaster to ascertain the acceptability of the proposed material.
4.8.2 Less Explicit Material
Generally, non ‘top shelf’ publications etc. which are freely available on sale, may be advertised, but will be subject to scheduling restrictions that are frequently later than “post watershed” as will Sex Guides and Sex Instruction videos with a BBFC classification.
4.9 The Occult
The rule is to be found in the Code rule 10.3 and covers the occult and psychic practices.
The intention behind the Code provision is to protect the vulnerable and the young and is wide-ranging in its application.
The ‘occult’ is deemed to embrace invocation of spirits, tarot and attempts to contact the dead or demons and products or services concerned with exorcism.
‘Psychic practices’ are deemed to include astrology, horoscopes and palmistry etc.
4.9.1 Exceptions
The Code does allow exceptions to the general prohibition except, for example, for general interest publications or for certain horoscope and tarot services which are likely to be regarded by most viewers simply as entertainment.
4.9.1.1 Horoscopes
Horoscopes such as typically appear in newspapers should appear only to offer generalised comments that would clearly apply to large sections of the population.
4.9.1.2 Tarot
Tarot services should only be pre-recorded material presented as an entertainment which would be unlikely to encourage people to change their behaviour in any significant way. (See also Religion section 12).
4.10 Commercial Services Offering Individual Advice on Personal or Consumer Problems
This does not prohibit advertising of financial advice services which complies with section 9 of the Code which is covered by section 14 of these Notes. It is also not intended to prevent advertising by solicitors.
Should potential advertisers feel that they have reasonable cause to be exempted from this rule, a case will have to be made. Accordingly any proposals in this area should be discussed with Clearcast at an early stage so that possible solutions can be explored.
4.11 Political and Controversial Issues
It should be noted that the setting of standards and investigation of complaints in relation to political and controversial issues have not been contracted out to BCAP and the ASA and remain matters for Ofcom. The ASA refers complaints about ‘political’ advertising to Ofcom.
The Code provides a summary of the political advertising provisions set out in the Communications Act as assistance only. Three areas are highlighted as being prohibited.
4.11.1 Advertisements
Advertisements inserted by or on behalf of any body whose objects are wholly or mainly of a political nature. There are two aspects to this namely what constitutes ‘political’ and what constitutes the ‘mainly’ bit of ‘wholly or mainly’. Political is understood to extend beyond purely ‘party political’ and includes issue campaigning for the purpose of influencing governments at home and abroad. Clearcast will seek to investigate the activities of organizations that appear prima facie to be involved in political activity in order to establish whether the political activity is the main or whole extent of their activity. A degree of involvement will not necessarily debar an organization from advertising. There is some precedent that 75% may be an appropriate threshold in this connection but each case will be considered on its merits.
4.11.2 Status of the Advertiser
Irrespective of the status of the advertiser, no advertisement is allowed to be directed towards any political end – again with ‘political’ having the wider meaning described above.
4.11.3 Exceptions
With only very limited exceptions, advertising may not have any connection with any industrial dispute. The specific exception offered is for service advertisements by or on behalf of a government department and statutory party political or referendum campaign broadcasts from the prohibition on political advertising.
4.12 'Specific Product' Sections
It should be noted that the above list of unacceptable advertising is not exhaustive and that within different categories of goods and services there are other prohibitions and these are referred to in the “Specific Product” sections of these Notes.
4.13 Indirect Promotion of Unacceptable Products or Services
The issue of ‘indirect’ advertising is a particularly important one.
Rule 3.2 of the Code extends prohibitions on advertising beyond the list of unacceptable products and services to include material which although may appear acceptable on the face of it, nevertheless indirectly publicises something unacceptable under the Code. It is potentially an issue where the primary product or service advertised promotes or contains links to associated services. This may occur where an advertiser also produces products which cannot be advertised and links are made to these products.
Note (1) to rule 3.2 now reads “No advertisement is acceptable if a significant effect of it would be to publicise an unacceptable product or service by, for example, referring viewers to a website, publication etc. where the product or service is promoted to a significant extent “.
4.13.1 Websites
It is not practical for Clearcast routinely to check the contents of websites. In practice Clearcast will only look at a site where it is the main or whole topic of the advertising or where there is particular reason to suppose the site is likely to make significant reference to an unacceptable product or service. Advertisers need to be aware of Code rule 3.2 when considering including a website address.
4.14 Specific Areas of Concern
4.14.1 Tobacco Products
The general position is that tobacco products may not be advertised. Many non-tobacco products and services are linked through brand name to tobacco products. Such products and services may be advertised but only if they are not prevented by law from advertising in other UK media, if the advertising is clearly aimed at an adult audience, makes or implies no other reference to smoking or the tobacco product and does not lead the viewer to any other material promoting tobacco or smoking and contains nothing associated with the brand apart from the brand name itself. In other words an advertisement for non tobacco products or services which is acceptable on the face of it may turn out unacceptable if it appears to promote tobacco. Additionally, such advertising must not include any elements of design, colour, imagery, logo styles etc. that are associated with the tobacco products. The shared brand name is all that is permitted.
4.14.2 Smoking in Advertising
Smoking and references to tobacco products are only permitted in extremely rare circumstances. It is forbidden in advertising which may be of particular interest to children or teenagers. Shots of smoking may be allowable in very limited circumstances for example in health-related public service advertising and incidental images of smoking in clips from films made before the dangers of smoking were widely recognised. It should be appreciated that the relaxation for film trailers is in practice likely to apply only very rarely bearing in mind the criterion relates to when the film was actually made, not the period in which it is set.
Some advertising may present borderline issues – for example products which mask or remove the smell of tobacco smoke could be seen as promoting smoking through the removal of obstacles to it. You are advised to discuss proposals in this area with Clearcast at an early stage.
4.15 Prescription Medicines
Prescription medicines may not be advertised on television. This prohibition does not extend to veterinary prescription only medicines but this is under review and is likely to change.
There are circumstances in which general informative advertisements about certain illnesses and conditions can be funded by the manufacturers of prescription medicines but this is a borderline area. Advertising of this nature should be discussed with Clearcast to determine its acceptability for television.
Again with websites, many companies manufacture both prescription and general sale medicines and websites in advertising for permissible products may lead to websites which appear substantially to be advertising prescription products and this may be deemed to constitute indirect advertising of an unacceptable product.