Advertisement Standards in Canada

Advertising Standards Canada is an organization devoted to creating and maintaining the professional practice in advertising where criteria is set distinguishing acceptable advertising forms. The Canadian Code of Advertising Standards forms the basis upon which consumers evaluate advertising and are able to place complaints about advertisements to the ASC.

The ASC states many guidelines but I am only going to choose a few that relate to the content of our blog. In many of our posts we discuss sexuality and the portrayal of a product to middle school students.. Please read about the following provisions on advertising in Canada!

The code of advertising standards follows 14 clauses developed to enhance the knowledge and understanding the interpretations made by the code for industries and other advertising companies. Among others, the interpretation guide specifically states caution towards the impression of the portrayal of women in any advertisement. It has been stated that if an ad violates “the spirit of gender equality” the ad will be prosecuted. Under the code there is a section completely devoted to  ‘Gender Portrayal Guidelines’ which explain the guidelines against discrimination and the portrayal of women in advertising. Guidelines one through six specifically refer to sexuality, violence, diversity and language used indecently toward the equality of men and women. For example: “3. Sexuality: Advertising should avoid the inappropriate use or exploitation of sexuality of both women and men.” This point also refers directly to number 14 in the code provisions Unacceptable Depictions and Portrayals. This provision recognizes distasteful advertisements violating clause 14 where an advertisement may be offensive to some people or gender. Clause 14 states four sub-points but I would like to bring attention to the first one that state that advertisements shall not condone personal discrimination against race, national origin, religion, sex or age.

Another interesting provision I want to discuss is the guideline against comparative advertising. This provision states: “Advertisements must not, unfairly, discredit, disparage or attack other products, services, advertisements or companies, or exaggerate the nature or importance of comparative differences.” Canadian advertising restricts publishing falsified advertisement that may unfairly discredit or attack the competitor or its product. I find this provision to be particularly interesting because of the major loop hole the following ad compares.

In this ad the comparative nature of the “ripple brand” does not directly compare the competitor but it is clearly implied. In my opinion there are an abundance of ads on air right now that defy many of the provisions discussed by ASC. Obviously there are loop holes these advertisements get through otherwise they would not be on air.

Here is the final question: Do you know of any commercials that violate any of the provisions stated by the ASC? These provisions include any advertisement that defies the appropriateness of an advertisement. If you do the ASC provides Ad Complaint Reports, which you (as the consumer) fills out a complaint report, which is submitted to ASC. These complaint reports are intended to inform both the industry and the public about consumer issues on their advertising techniques.

Here is the link to Ad Complaint Report: http://www.adstandards.com/en/Standards/report.asp