Hair today, gone tomorrow!

As someone who is follicly challenged, I was interested to see the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK ruled against an advert by Advanced Hair Studio which claimed that their laser therapy had been approved and could reduce or stop hair loss and/or grow new hair. I have been combing the web and it seems that while this laser treatment has been "cleared" by the Food and Drugs Administration in the US, it has not been approved. Advanced Hair Studio appear to be scratching their heads at the decision.

I don't know the ins and outs of this, but I do remember a really long (must have been 3-4 minutes) ad for them on TV3 a few months ago. They had a list of sports stars lined up to endorse the product and it seems life would come to an end when your full head of hair disappears!


The bald facts?

The serious angle to this is that it is important that consumers are not sold false promises on these types of products. I am not saying that these AHS treatments don't work, I don't know if they do or not. What I do know is that it is vital that claims being made in advertising such as this can be substantiated. Unfortunately in Ireland, like the UK advertising is self regulated, so unless someone complains the advert won't be reviewed or looked at. And even if judged to be misleading it will be withdrawn many months later, when consumers may well have bought the product or service. And since there are no penalties, it can be worth the risk to run an advert that sails close to the wind. In Ireland we need legislation and an independent body to protect consumers from misleading advertising.

Ad Attack

In recent days RTE highlighted a report which found that broadband customers rarely get the maximum connection speeds advertised by internet service providers. The study on broadband available in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick found that on average consumers benefit from just 60% of advertised speeds. Now in the past telco companies covered themselves by stating in their ads that their offers provided speeds of "up to" so many megabytes. However I thought that had all been sorted out since Comreg and Advertising Standards Association of Ireland (ASAI) had agreed a new set of advertising rules for internet providers last March. Individual consumers can check their speeds, this is one company I have used to check the speed of my broadband at home, but I am sure there are more.

Of course the regulatory regime here for the advertising industry is weak. As in other areas we have "self regulation" or what could be called light touch regulation. I would call it soft touch regulation. Obviously advertising has a role to play in informing consumers about new products or services, it can also promote competition by letting consumers know about cheaper prices or better services. And lets be honest some ads are really good and on TV can be better than the programmes.


A Leonard Rossiter Classic!

However advertising can also be deceptive and misleading as outlined above re broadband. In that case consumers are not getting "what is says on the tin" and are being ripped off by being provided with a service which is poorer than what they are paying for. But the current regulatory regime doesn't promote good practise because if a consumer believes that an advert is misleading all they can do is complain to the ASAI and a number of months later they will either uphold or refuse the complaint. By that stage the advert has served its purpose and may no longer be in circulation. Even where the ASAI has found that an advert was in breach of their codes all they can do is direct that the advert not be run again and/or make recommendations for future ad campaigns. They have no power to impose fines or penalties on those found in breach of their advertising standards even though the misleading advert could have generated considerable revenue for the company. See here for a list of the most recent cases.

As I discussed in this blog last March there is also considerable global pressure for greater regulation of junk food advertising towards children, which many believe is contributing to child obesity. CAI linked up with the Childrens' Rights Alliance to call for greater restrictions on junk food advertising here and it is positive that Minister Eamon Ryan has included a provision for this in the Broadcasting Bill which is going through the Oireachtas now. Likewise there is growing pressure to restrict alcohol advertising which appears to be targeting young people, but so far the Government have caved into the drinks lobby and only introduced "voluntary codes" which are unenforceable, weak and ineffective.

What we need to protect consumers is an advertising code underpinned by law, policed by a powerful regulator where ads can be stopped or taken down immediately and where financial penalties can be applied to act as a disincentive.

Time to dump junk food advertising aimed at children

March 15th is World Consumer Rights Day, obviously its a date that's a little less known that March 17th both here and abroad. This year the world body of consumer organisations, Consumers International decided to make the campaign against junk food advertising to children the theme for the day. Click here for more information on their international campaign.

I am really pleased that CAI were able to join forces with the Children's Rights Alliance in calling for action in Ireland and in issuing a joint press release. The Alliance represents 80 organisations working to protect and enhance children's' and young people's rights, so our joint statement was a natural coalition. This statement was covered by the Irish Times today.


The tricks used to enhance junk food in ads!!

And this is a big issue. The Taskforce on Obesity which reported in 2005 estimated that there were up to 327,000 children on the island of Ireland who were overweight and obese and that number was estimated to increase by about 11,000 each year. Obesity is putting the lives of children at risk and increasing the incidences of diabetes, heart disease, cancer and premature death. Obviously there are a number of reasons for this, but the aggressive marketing of junk food to children is part of the reason.

One of the key solutions then in my view would be to restrict the advertising of unhealthy foods before the 9pm watershed to provide adequate protection to children here in Ireland. The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland are currently reviewing their Children’s Advertising Code and this presents Ireland with an excellent opportunity to take a lead on this issue. This of course will only deal with advertising from TV stations based here, so to address advertising from other jurisdictions we need the Irish Government to take a leading role at European and global level in calling for the World Health Organisation to introduce an international code on the marketing of unhealthy foods to children, as recommended by Consumers International.

Advertising and marketing are designed to increase sales, no point in doing it if it didn't. In 2003 it was estimated that €132m was spent on advertising food and beverages in Ireland. Processed foods such as chocolate, crisps, fizzy drinks, pre-sugared breakfast cereals and fast food that are high in sugar, fat and salt are the most heavily promoted and marketed in ads even though dietary guidelines recommend they should be eaten the least. Children are primarily the target group for the advertising of these products because of their significant influence on the foods bought by their parents. Advertisers target young children because of the money they have to spend, the influence they have over their parents' spending and the desire to build brand loyalty.
Children, particularly those under 12 are vulnerable to advertising because they are not aware that the purpose of advertising is not to inform, but to persuade and ultimately to sell a product. While parents may ultimately be responsible for feeding their children, the aggressive marketing aimed at their children is undermining their efforts. On one hand parents are encouraging their children to eat healthy food but food company advertising is telling children that unhealthy food products are desirable to eat. A study by the Southern Health Board in 2004 reported in the Taskforce on Obesity found that 75% of parents of 7-8 year olds considered that food advertising promoted unhealthy foods and 50% of parents felt that their children pressurised them to buy certain foods or drinks as a direct result of advertising.

We know of course that the food multinationals and advertising agencies will strongly oppose this, they both make lots of money from selling unhealthy food to children. However its time the Irish Government, EU and WHO put the health and interests of children ahead of the profits of the junk food merchants and their marketing fellow travellers.