Unit 30 Assignment 1

The ASA regulate advertisements by making sure that they're suitable for all viewers. They take all complaints about adverts and act on them. The rules of the ASA are called the advertising codes. An example of them are:

• Misleading Advertising-A key and extensive section of the Code, containing rules such as substantiation (evidence to prove claims); pricing; the use of the word ‘free’; availability of products, comparisons, testimonials and more.
• Privacy-Rules about permissions for depicting – or referring to - living persons in ads, including members of the public and those with a public profile.
• Pornography-Rules restricting the advertisement of R18-rated material

Adverts that were heavily complained about/banned

1)KFC Zinga Crunch Salad (not upheld)-This ad wasn't banned but people complained about it saying that it promotes bad manners to children. The ASA didn't believe that this was a good enough reason to ban the advert.

2)Paddy Power blind football(not upheld)-This advert also wasn't banned but people complained that it was discriminative towards blind people and the kicking of the cat could promote animal cruelty.
3)Volkswagen Group Ltd(upheld in part)-In this advert we see an engineer fighting multiple versions of himself. The ASA decided not to completely ban this ad but due to the strong violence it was made to only be played after 9 o'clock.
4)Marie Stopes International(not upheld)-This advert offered sexual and reproductive healthcare advice. It was complained about for various reasons for example the fact that it promoted abortion.


Thinkbox are behind all the marketing for commercial tv in the UK, whether its broadcast, broadband or interactive. Its shareholders are Channel 4, ITV, Sky Media, Turner Media Innovations and UKTV, who together represent over 90% of commercial TV advertising revenue through their owned and partner TV channels.  RTL Group and Virgin Media are Associate Members and Discovery Channel UK & STV also give direct financial support. Thinkbox works with the marketing community with a single ambition: to help advertisers get the best out of today’s TV. Studies show that TV is used by audiences as a way to pass the time during their day to day responsibilities. They came up with 3 types of viewing times:

Our time: shared viewing; social occasion; early peak and weekends

In between time: often when doing other activities; flit between sets; weekday daytimes

My time: 'treat' viewing; often alone; mainly women; lunchtimes and late peak
Interviews took place to determine the importance of TV in people's lives and results showed that it had a significant input.

When advertising, engaging the audience is key. The research that thinkbox carried out shows that music is the foundation for a successful advert. If you have a catchy jingle/song, viewers will sing along, dance, laugh etc which means they will watch until the end and take interest in what is being advertised. the benefit of using thinkbox to do your research for you is that its easier and less time consuming, and you will get the most out of your advert as thinkbox will get it shown as much as possible. They carried out their research by fitting 22 houses with cameras an captured what they watched and how they watched it, they surveyed 3000 people about tv and how they spend their time with it, and they did lab tests by getting a group of people together to watch adverts and discuss them. The advantages of carrying out these types of research is that you get a variety of results

An advertising rate card is a printed list of advertising rates charged by print and broadcast media. Rate cards are usually used for guidance only as the actual charges differ immensely according to the bargaining power of the advertiser.

Here is an example of a BBC TV rate card.

5 adverts of different structure, techniques and characteristics

http://youtu.be/CVS1UfCfxlU

The John West advert uses the form of parody. We know this because there is a narrator talking in the context of a documentary. The style of the John West advert is humorous and surreal. We know this because the image of the fisherman fighting with the man in a bear costume, especially in a 'slapstick comedy' manor, makes the audience laugh and enjoy it. The characteristics used in the John West advert are  promotional. We know this because the narrator tells us how the fisherman go through the worst challenges I.e. Fighting a bear, to get the best quality product they can. The techniques used in the advert are quite covert at first but then becomes more clear.We know this because at the setting and dialogue doesn't tell us anything about the product, but then as the fisherman fights the bear for the prop of the fish, we begin to realise the meaning of the ad and the narrator helps us understand this. In the end the advert becomes more overt and clear to the audience.

http://youtu.be/QiOozOsjT3A

The Barclays advert uses the form of narrative. We know this because there is a hamster talkng about his lifestyle and the differences a Barclays account has made to his life and how it's helped. The style of the Barclays advert is humorous and informative. We know this because the talking hamster will get the audience interested and they'll find it funny, but then at the same time talked about the benefits of being with Barclays I.e. How much easier it was for the hamster to pay off his mortgage of his cage and the props within it. The characteristics used in the Barclays advert are lifestyle and branding. We know this because the hamster talks us through how much better his life is now he's with Barclays, selling you the idea that you can improve your lifestyle by joining them too. The techniques used in the advert are overt and clear as they want to get straight to the point so they can sell their product with no confusion. The use of the hamster can at first be slightly derailing but mainly for comedic use.

http://youtu.be/uCKgCkubGc0

http://youtu.be/AdEu6CaVQT0

The Aldi advert uses the form of comparison. We know this because the characters involved have to different brands, each of the same product, but the Aldi one is cheaper and the consumers explain that they think they're both the same quality. The style of the Aldi advert is humorous. We know this because the old lady says she prefers gin at the end of the ad which appeals to an older audience, but on the other hand the monkey and crocodile prop in the other Aldi ad appeals to a younger audience. The characteristics used in the Aldi adverts are informative and promotional. We know this because the  characters involved explain how the two products are equal in quality but they say the Aldi product is better as it is cheaper. The techniques used in the advert are overt,clear and simple because they just get straight to the point as to why you should go for their product over the competitive one without making a fuss but still being appealing to a wide audience.

http://youtu.be/LDNZZ5nCNGg

The Pedigree advert uses the form of . We know this because the characters involved have to different brands, each of the same product, but the Aldi one is cheaper and the consumers explain that they think they're both the same quality. The style of the Aldi advert is humorous. We know this because the old lady says she prefers gin at the end of the ad which appeals to an older audience, but on the other hand the monkey and crocodile prop in the other Aldi ad appeals to a younger audience. The characteristics used in the Aldi adverts are informative and promotional. We know this because the  characters involved explain how the two products are equal in quality but they say the Aldi product is better as it is cheaper. The techniques used in the advert are overt,clear and simple because they just get straight to the point as to why you should go for their product over the competitive one without making a fuss but still being appealing to a wide audience.