Current News and Media Releases
Spotlight on: Christmas Advertising
With Christmas fast approaching, the ASA have come up with a few top tips to help brands advertise responsibly this festive season.
Spotlight on: Halloween advertising
6 October 2022 With Halloween coming up at the end of the month, advertisers may be looking at petrifying promos or spooky specials for their campaigns. But what is deemed okay when it comes to Halloween advertising? If you’ve got some ads coming out around this time with a play on the Halloween theme –… Read More
Explainer: Adult-themed ads during TV news or On Demand
13 September 2022 The ASA at times gets complaints about advertisements shown during the TV news bulletins at 6.00pm. Complainants are usually concerned about the adult-themed content of some ads and question why these are allowed to play in the early evening when children can see them. Each programme on TV is classified by the… Read More
ASA’s guide on Local Government Election Advertising
8 August 2022 With the Local Government Elections in Aotearoa fast approaching, below are the key things to be aware of when it comes to local election advertising. Types of advertising: Paid advertising: We consider complaints about paid election advertising. This includes paid digital advertisements, paid communications from social media platforms (including boosted or sponsored… Read More
ASA launches review of Children and Young People’s Advertising Code
12 July 2022 The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has launched its planned review of the Children and Young People’s Advertising Code. The ASA sets the standards for responsible advertising in New Zealand and runs a complaints process to support compliance. In 2021, the ASA received 1245 formal complaints about 570 advertisements from a range of… Read More
Key issues for discussion in the Children and Young People’s Advertising Code
12 July 2022 With the launch of our planned review of the Children and Young People’s Advertising Code today, we thought we would highlight some of the key issues that have been raised with us directly or highlighted through our complaints process. Age definitions: In the current code, children are defined as being those under… Read More
Media Release: Advertising Standards Authority Annual Report 2021
18 May 2022 The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has today released its 2021 Annual Report. This report outlines the self-regulatory action undertaken by the ASA and provides a snapshot of key areas of work. The ASA handled 1245 complaints about 570 advertisements in 2021. Possible code issues were identified in 284 advertisements and the ASA… Read More
ASA releases most complained about ads of 2021
18 May 2022 The ASA has today released its 2021 Annual Report. As part of this report, we have released some of the most complained about ads last year. In 2021, we received 1245 complaints about 570 advertisements. The most complained about category was advocacy advertisements (including COVID-19 related advertising). For more information on the… Read More
Financial Advertising Code effective for all ads from June
17 May 2022 The Financial Advertising Code comes into effect for all financial ads on 1 June. The new Code replaces the Code for Financial Advertising and was updated last year following a routine review. It became effective from 1 March 2022 for new financial advertising, and will become effective from 1 June 2022 for all financial advertising. The… Read More
Spotlight on: Comparative Advertising
Comparing a competitor product or service is a common tactic used by advertisers. But there are several important things to keep in mind when taking this approach. Below, we cover the top things that you need to be aware of if making comparative statements in advertising. Comparative ads: MUST only compare like with like: If… Read More
