ASA Reports Drop in Ads Breaking Age Restrictions

ASA has published its latest three-month assessment of advertisement that has breached age-restrictions.

Age-Restriction Ad Violations Decline, Says ASA

Age restrictions violations in the UK are decreasing, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) stated in a new report shared earlier today. Advertisement across the board has been unable to reach underage individual or children at previous levels, the organization explained, citing the months between October and December, using specialist tools.

The watchdog reviewed 49 websites and 12 YouTube channels, with the end tally resulting in 47 ads that had reached a restricted audience, violating the regulator’s consumer protection framework.

ASA reported that out of 23 websites with pre-dominantly underage traffic, 21 advertisers have made sure to place age-restrictions to reflect the content of said websites. Officially, the company had this to add:  “Following our first and second reports, the ASA is encouraged by the lower number of ads found to have broken the rule.”

The regulator will need to go through another assessment in the first quarter of the year and it will come up with a finalized report for the period of the initiative, putting repeat offenders in the focus of further action and determining whether regulations and recommendations have been adequately taken into consideration.

Similarly, ASA has confirmed that its previous report has led to a dramatic decrease in the number of non-compliant ads, from 70 to 5, citing the period between July and September last year.

While ASA is relying on a fairly lenient approach to offenders, the organization’s chief executive, Guy Parker, has stated that offenders would not be tolerated in the future. ASA has issued penalties to respected brands in the past.

The regulator upheld a ruling in a case against a Ladbrokes’ TV ad. In October 2020, the watchdog said that a Gala Spins’ ad had breached the CAP code.