Wide-ranging changes address food, children, transgender, and other issues
September 17, 2015, New York, NY - The Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland ("ASAI") announced today that it has issued a new Code of Standards for Advertising and Marketing Communications. The new Code goes into effect in March 2016. The ASAI is an independent self-regulatory body financed by the advertising industry and its Code covers marketing communications and sales promotions across all forms of media.
"This new Code is welcomed and is an industry wide acknowledgement of the need for advertising to keep in line with public policy concerns," said Duncan Grehan, GALA Vice Chairman Elect and Principal at Duncan Grehan & Partners Solicitors in Dublin, Ireland.
The ASAI widened the Code's definition of "gender" following recent complaints regarding transgender issues in advertisements. The Code already stated that advertisements should not cause offence on the grounds of gender, but its expanded definition now includes "people who have a gender identity different to the gender assigned at birth and those people who wish to portray their gender identity in a different way to the gender assigned at birth."
Changes to the Code also include new rules on:
- E-cigarette advertising;
- Gambling advertising, which now require warnings regarding responsible gaming and prohibits any suggestion that gambling is a "rite of passage."
- Food advertising;
- Children's advertising;
- Health and beauty products;
- Environmental claims.
"Global marketers should take note of the important changes to ASAI's Code, which will have significant impact on campaigns in Ireland in the coming year," said Jeffrey A. Greenbaum, GALA Chairman and Managing Partner of Frankfurt Kurnit Klein + Selz in New York.
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