New Zealand Children’s Advertising Codes to be strengthened

Media Release

Embargoed to 2.00 pm, 20 October 2016

New Zealand Children’s Advertising Codes to be strengthened
New rules “amongst the most stringent in the world”

The recommendations from the Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) review of the existing children’s advertising codes has highlighted that New Zealand’s existing advertising rules, with respect to children, were fundamentally sound but could be improved to reflect new media trends. As a result, New Zealand standards for advertising directed at children will be “among the most stringent in the world”, said Lindsay Mouat, Chief Executive of the Association of New Zealand Advertisers (ANZA).

ANZA welcomed this review, “even though complaints to the ASA regarding advertising to children are very few indeed, compared with other advertising rules”. ANZA believes this demonstrates that self-regulation of advertising is working effectively. “Advertisers comply with the Codes, despite the inaccurate generalisations made by critics”, said Mouat.

“Nonetheless, we believe that regular reviews of all advertising codes are an important part of responsible advertising”, said Mouat. ANZA advocated for the review to be conducted by an independent panel of experts, including public health representation. “This provided a clear demonstration of industry support for best practice self-regulation, and that advertisers take their responsibilities seriously”.

“There is no escaping the fact that we live in a commercial world. This brings with it the potential risk of children viewing harmful or inappropriate material”. The ASA’s role, is therefore to make sure that the ads likely to be seen by them are appropriate and do not cause harm. “The advertising rules surrounding children are deliberately strict and the latest review has reflected that”.

ANZA welcomes the consolidation of the two current codes into a single code. “This recommendation highlights that the Review Panel recognised that there a range of important issues with respect to children, including pester power, safety and sexualisation. Advertisers must be mindful of all of these.” A single code will make it easier for both the public and advertisers to understand all the rules and comply with them.

ANZA is however disappointed by some findings of the review, notably the definition of children as under 14 years which is older than most countries such as the EU, Canada and the United States (who have an under 12 rule). “There is clear evidence that young people, 12 and over, are able to recognise and decipher commercial messages for what they are,” said Mouat.

Many of the public health submissions focused on food advertising and made links to childhood obesity. “Unfortunately these submissions tend to ignore the fact that obesity is a very complex issue. The UK Government’s highly respected Foresight Report highlighted more than 100 different variables contributing to obesity. Looking at marketing in isolation is a case of searching for a silver bullet that doesn’t exist.” And the US Institute of Medicine concluded that at best food marketing has only a “modest direct effect” on the food choices, preferences and behaviours of children.

Nonetheless, we know advertisers are committed to comply with the new Code, and many will have their own policies that require a higher standard again. Already many advertisers have committed to a ‘no advertising directly to children’ policy, for example, signatories to the International Food & Beverage Alliance (IFBA) Global Policy on Advertising and Marketing Communications to Children. These companies, including many of the largest food companies in the world, have committed to increasing exposure of food and beverages compatible with a balanced diet and healthy, active lifestyle.

Further Information

• ASA Review recommendations http://www.asa.co.nz/

• IFBA Global Policy on Marketing Communications to Children Policy https://ifballiance.org/documents/2014/09/ifba-global-policy-on-m2k-final-september-2014.pdf

• Foresight Report on Obesity https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/287937/07-1184x-tackling-obesities-future-choices-report.pdf

About ANZA

The Association of New Zealand Advertisers (ANZA) provides a collective voice for advertisers in dealing with government, media, advertising agencies and other organisations in the advertising industry.

ANZA members represent many of New Zealand’s largest advertisers in sectors including alcohol, food and beverages, finance, therapeutics, retail and telecommunications.

ANZA’s mission is to protect the freedom to advertise responsibly and to enhance effective communications for its members. We are an advocate for the important role advertising plays in any modern consumer society, both in encouraging innovation and competition and funding many of the great variety of media channels available to the New Zealand public.

© Scoop Media