Younger consumers - CAP

Introduction

In this blog post, I am going to research the advertising codes which are created to help protect young customers and viewers against inappropriate material. To help me find this information, I am going to look at the CAP (Committee of Advertising Practice).

Advertising codes for children

 

Effect of advertising on young people

 

"The average young person views more than 3000 ads per day on television (TV), on the Internet, on billboards, and in magazines. Increasingly, advertisers are targeting younger and younger children in an effort to establish “brand-name preference” at as early an age as possible.

Research has shown that young children—younger than 8 years—are cognitively and psychologically defenseless against advertising. They do not understand the notion of intent to sell and frequently accept advertising claims at face value.

Advertisers have traditionally used techniques to which children and adolescents are more susceptible, such as product placements in movies and TV shows, tie-ins between movies and fast food restaurants, tie-ins between TV shows and toy action figures or other products, kids' clubs that are linked to popular shows, and celebrity endorsements."(1)



  Identifying a case/complaint which breaks these codes.

Ad
A magazine ad for "Oh, Lola!" perfume which appeared on 5 August 2011, showed the actress and model Dakota Fanning, sitting on the floor, alone, wearing a pale coloured thigh length dress.  She used one arm to support herself as she leaned backwards and in the other hand she held an oversized bottle of the perfume, which rested in her lap.  The bottle was shaped like a vase holding a flower in bloom.


Issue
Four readers challenged whether the ad was offensive and irresponsible as it portrayed the young model in a sexualised manner.

CAP Code (Edition 12)
1.3 4.1


Assessment

Upheld

The ASA understood that the ad had appeared in publications with a target readership of those over 25 years of age.  We noted that the model was wearing a thigh length soft pink, polka dot dress and that part of her right thigh was visible.  We noted that the model was holding up the perfume bottle which rested in her lap between her legs and we considered that its position was sexually provocative.  We understood the model was 17 years old but we considered she looked under the age of 16.  We considered that the length of her dress, her leg and position of the perfume bottle drew attention to her sexuality.  Because of that, along with her appearance, we considered the ad could be seen to sexualise a child.  We therefore concluded that the ad was irresponsible and was likely to cause serious offence.

The ad breached CAP Code (Edition12) rules 1.3 (Social responsibility) and 4.1 (Harm and offence).

Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form.


Personal reflection

My personal reflection upon the "Oh lola!" advertisement is that they chose an appropriate decision and action upon the advert as it portraying the model in a provacative way, which breaks the codes and restrictions to protect children. The model resembled a teenage or pre-teen female, which would be influential upon kids as it resembled their age range.

The colours, clothing and positioning of the product was placed/chosen innapropriately and would resemble inappropriate sexual characteristics.

Bibliography

http://www.cap.org.uk/ (05/12/2012)

http://www.cap.org.uk/Advertising-Codes.aspx (05/12/2012)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_CAP_Code (05/12/2012)

http://www.fdf.org.uk/speeches/bccc11_laura_coffey.pdf (05/12/2012)

http://www.cap.org.uk/~/media/Files/CAP/New%20Codes/Overview_Final.ashx (05/12/2012)

(1) http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/118/6/2563.full (05/12/2012)

http://www.asa.org.uk/News-resources/~/media/Files/ASA/Adcheck/Ad%20Banks/Offensive/Offensive%20advertising.ashx (05/12/2012)

http://www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications/2011/11/Coty-UK-Ltd/SHP_ADJ_168079.aspx (05/12/2012)