The Advertising Association promotes the role and rights of responsible advertising and its value to people, society, businesses and the economy. We represent UK advertisers, agencies, media owners and tech companies on behalf of the entire industry, acting as the connection between industry professionals and the politicians and policy-makers.

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The Advertising Association focuses on major industry and policy areas that have huge ramifications on UK advertising. This section contains our work around public health, gambling advertising, data and e-privacy, trust, the digital economy and more.

Credos is the advertising industry’s independent think tank. It produces research, evidence and reports into the impact and effectiveness of and public and political response to advertising on behalf of UK advertisers in order to enable the industry to make informed decisions.

Front Foot is our industry’s member network of over 90 businesses across UK advertising. It aims to promote the role of responsible advertising and its value to people, society and the economy through a coalition of senior leaders from advertisers, agencies and media owners.

We run a number of events throughout the year, from our annual LEAD summit to the Media Business Course and regular breakfast briefings for our members. We are also the official UK representative for the world’s biggest festival of creativity – Cannes Lions.

ADVERTISING MATTERS 14.05.21

/ May 14th 2021 /
Industry News

QUEEN’S SPEECH: GOVERNMENT INTENTIONS ON HFSS 

On Tuesday the Government’s legislative priorities for the coming session were laid out in the Queen’s Speech. A key part of the speech was the intention to introduce a 9pm watershed on HFSS advertising on TV and a total ban online through the Health and Care Bill. This has been a lengthy process since the consultation on the TV element of the plans was conducted in 2019 and that for the online element was held late last year. We still await the Government’s response to these consultations and hope to see them in the coming weeks.

The news was met with widespread consternation across the food and drink and advertising industries, all of whom have repeatedly made clear their opposition to the plans in both broadcast and the online space given the lack of evidence that these measures will have any impact on obesity. Our Chief Executive, Stephen Woodford, made the following comment:

“We are dismayed at the Government’s decision, announced in today’s Queen’s Speech, that it is going to press ahead with a 9pm watershed and total online ban on HFSS advertising. The Government’s own evidence shows that such measures will be ineffective in tackling obesity. The country needs balanced, consistent and well-evidenced policy interventions that will make a positive difference. The 9pm watershed and online ban will not reduce obesity levels, but will damage business and innovation and put jobs at risk.”

The comment was covered in titles such as The TimesEvening StandardCampaignThe Daily Telegraph and Decision Marketing. For information on this, contact Matthew.

TAKE A PEEK AT THE ALL IN SUMMIT 

We are delighted to announce the speaker line-up for the All In Summit on 10 June, including:

  • Kathryn Jacob, Chair, Inclusion Working Group & CEO, Pearl & Dean
  • Samantha Renke, Actress and Disability Activist
  • Julian Douglas, International CEO and Vice Chairman, VCCP & President, IPA
  • Caroline Dinenage, Minister for Digital and Culture, DCMS
  • Dean Aragon, CEO and Global VP Brand, Shell Brands International
  • Josh Loebner, Director of Strategy, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Designsensory

The Summit will reveal the results of the All In Census – the largest ever study of our industry’s workforce and see the launch of the first phase of the All In Action Plan that will set out the big areas of focus for the industry to achieve greater inclusivity.

Check out the full speaker line-up to date and book your ticket here!

THE LETTER OF THE LAW

On Wednesday, the Advertising Association co-signed a joint-industry statement encouraging the European Parliament to approve the Commission’s draft adequacy decisions for transfers of personal data to the UK. This is vital to ensure the continued seamless flow of secure data between the EU and the UK.

The statement was issued following suggestions from the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties to amend the Commission’s adequacy assessment.

You can read the statement here. Research Live also covered the news here.

THIS WEEK: UK ADVERTISING IN THE MEDIA

In our weekly series we are pulling together, in one place, a selection of must-reads from across our industry media.

Click here to check it out!

AD OF THE WEEK

You’ve made it this far – why not treat yourself and watch our ad of the week?

Want the full edition to land in your inbox every Friday? Drop us an email on aa@adassoc.org.uk and quote ‘Ad Matters’.