Who should I contact should I feel I've been a victim of Misleading advertising?

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the Independent Television Commission (ITC) and the Radio Authority (RA) are the three organizations you can go to if you think that misleading advertising has caused you a problem. Which one you go to first depends on where you saw or heard the advert.

Should the advert have been in print, then you should be going to the ASA. They deal with any print adverts, wherever they may be. This could be a magazine, a newspaper, a poster billboard, a direct mail leaflet or brochure, or even adverts on the internet, commercial emails and any other sales promotions. They even cover cinema ads.

Basically, the ASA looks at non-broadcast adverts, but when you hear an advert on the radio and find it has been misleading, you need to go to the RA, and if you saw it on TV, then the ITC is who you should contact.

When you contact one of these three, you should do it in writing in order to have a proper record of your complaint. You should also do all you can to ensure that there is no doubt which advert you are talking about, and what the reasons are behind the complaint. Doing this in writing isn't all about writing a letter, you can also do it online.

So, to make it clear, you can send a copy of the advert if it is non-broadcast, with details about where it appeared and when. Put your full name and address on the complaint so it can be acknowledged and you can be fully informed of progress.

Should the complaint be against a broadcasting company, you should tell them what programme on what TV channel you were watching or which radio station and programme you were listening to when you heard or saw the ad. As far as you remember, you should include the time of the ad, or if it is on teletext, the page number. Tell them the product or service that was advertised and then the nature of your complaint.

The relevant authority investigates your grievance in detail to see if there is a case that needs answering. If so, they'll raise it with whichever TV or Radio station or newspaper publisher or media company they need to talk to. If a breach in standards has been proved, they will uphold the complaint, and changes will need to be made so repetition is avoided. A persistent or serious breach could lead to a more formal warning being issued. The company could be asked to offer and apology or a publicised correction in cases that are most serious. Finally, the company could be fined or their licence could be shortened or withdrawn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

© AskFinancially.com 2008

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