Advertising & Marketing

Recent Articles

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  06/05/2025

  United Kingdom

  A continuing commitment to responsible advertising: The ASA & CAP 2024 annual report

  The Advertising Standards Authority (“ASA”) and the Committees of Advertising Practice (“CAP”) have published their 2024 Annual Report. The 2024 Report demonstrates the ASA’s increasingly proactive approach,  highlighting a renewed focus on the use of AI for ad monitoring and a strong emphasis on protecting vulnerable groups.Advertisers should take note of the ASA’s focus on responsible ad content—especially in the context of environmental claims, medicines, financial products, and content targeted at or likely to be viewed by children Itis clear that...

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  30/04/2025

  United Kingdom

  ASA rules gambling ad did not appeal to children

  IntroductionOn 16 April 2025, the Advertising Standards Authority ("ASA") ruled that a gambling advertisement relating to Fitzdares Ltd did not appeal to children and, therefore, did not breach the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising ("CAP Code"), despite the fact that it featured a well-known public figure.BackgroundIn August 2024, Stuart Broad, a former England cricket player, published an X post advertising a partnership with Fitzdares, as part of which it had given him “a £500 free bet pot every month to raise cash for Motor Neurone Disease”, together with an image of him...

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  28/04/2025

  United Kingdom

  Level Up Compliance: Video games industry in the spotlight (again) for consumer law compliance

  IntroductionThe gaming industry has experienced exponential growth in the past few years. It is estimated that, in 2025, the UK games market will generate revenues of £13.28 billion[1] whilst the EU games market will reach €63.70 billion.[2] However, such growth coupled with the popularity of certain games with children is bringing heightened regulatory scrutiny for the industry.In-game currencies in particular are under the spotlight. In September 2024, the European Consumer Organisation, BEUC (“BEUC”), submitted an alert to the European Consumer Protection...

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  17/04/2025

  United Kingdom

  No more faux five-stars: The DMCC Act bans fake reviews

  New rules banning fake online reviews came into force on 6 April, breach of which could lead to hefty penalties of up to 10% of annual global turnover.Most of the consumer law provisions of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (the “DMCC Act”) are now in force, and on 4 April 2025 the CMA published guidance on many of the provisions, including those relating to fake reviews: Fake reviews: CMA208 - GOV.UKA key change that the DMCC Act makes to the previous legislation (the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations) is that the DMCC Act includes  prohibitions...

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  10/04/2025

  United Kingdom

  No hidden charges: Clamping down on drip pricing

  Parts of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (“DMCC Act”) came into force on 6 April 2025, including provisions to protect consumers from unfair trading. These (mostly) replace and update the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.Whilst many of the same or similar rules will apply to commercial practices as under the previous regulations, there are some important changes introduced by the DMCC Act, including in relation to drip pricing.What is drip pricing?Drip pricing is a practice that involves adding unavoidable hidden fees to the advertised...

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  07/04/2025

  United Kingdom

  Upheld: ASA rules against ad encouraging irresponsible gaming

  IntroductionThe Advertising Standards Authority (“ASA”) issued a ruling on 26 March 2025 against Stars Interactive Ltd t/a PokerStars (“PokerStars”) for an advert which encouraged socially irresponsible gambling behaviour.BackgroundIn December 2024, the PokerStars Instagram account published a video featuring two content creators competing in a casino challenge, betting £100 each on slot machines. The video portrayed one creator consistently winning large sums of money, suggesting that superstitious actions such as blowing on his finger enabled him to win more money....

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