ASA - Advertising Standards Authority

The Advertising Standards Authority is the industry regulator supporting responsible advertising. Advertising in New Zealand is regulated by the ASA Codes and its complaints process, working within the legal framework provided by a number of Acts and Regulations that restrict advertising.

Acts that restrict advertising include:

Fair Trading Act
Medicines Act
Gambling Act
Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act
Smokefree Environments Act
Prostitution Reform Act
Electoral Act
Financial Markets Act

The self-regulation administered by the ASA is a cost effective and efficient way of dealing with a range of complaints about advertising. Government regulation provides a legal back-stop to deal with more serious advertising breaches.

Explanatory Statement on Jurisdiction and Scope 2022

To assist consumers and the advertising industry, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has developed this explanatory statement on its jurisdiction and scope. It provides clarity on the application of the ASA Codes of Practice to advertising content and placement and will help consumers contact the organisation that is most likely to assist with their complaints.

The ASA will consider complaints about all types of advertising or marketing communications within its jurisdiction, including:

those shown on any medium including television (including streaming), radio (including streaming), print, out of home (including billboards, bus shelters and buses), cinema, online, email, websites, social media, influencers, videos, addressed and unaddressed mail, brochures, and point-of-sale material
applications or games designed by an advertiser to draw attention to a particular product or business
advertorials and infomercials
user generated content which is communicated via a site or digital platform over which the marketer has a reasonable degree of control
alcohol naming, labelling, and packaging

ASA waiver process

Under the ASA Rules, once a complaint has been judged to be within the Boards jurisdiction, the complainant is asked to waive the right to take or continue proceedings against the advertiser, publisher or broadcaster concerned (this to avoid the possibility of the Board’s determination being used as a ‘trial run’ for further action). If a consumer wishes to complain about an advertisement to other agencies, they should do that prior to raising the matter with the ASA.

ASA process if complaints are outside ASA jurisdiction

If a complaint is received about content outside the ASA’s jurisdiction in the table below, the complainant will be advised, and this explanatory note will be provided to help the complainant consider if they wish to take the complaint to another jurisdiction.

The following table sets out complaints not currently in the Advertising Standards Authority’s jurisdiction as assessed in October 2022.

A complaint will not be considered if:

it does not raise issues that are within Codes administered by the Advertising Standards Authority.	https://www.asa.co.nz/codes/
it is about product naming, packaging, or labels. Exceptions:
1. Alcohol products.	1. If a complaint is upheld, advertisers are asked to sell existing stock and remove or change the packaging (three-month timeframe).
2. The ASA will consider complaints about labels if they are prominent and legible within advertisements.	2. If a complaint is upheld, the advertiser will be asked to edit or remove the label from the advertisement.
3. The ASA will consider complaints about product names in advertisements if the name raises code-compliance issues.	3. If a complaint is upheld, the advertiser will be asked to change or remove the advertisement for code compliance – an example is the use of an expletive in a product name in unrestricted media.
it is about a company name and / or registered trademark.	The ASA cannot require company name changes and does not adjudicate on trademarks. More information: https://www.iponz.govt.nz/about-ip/trade-marks/
it is about television or radio programming or programme content issues.	More information: https://www.bsa.govt.nz/complaints/
it is about advertisements on broadcast media (pay-tv, TV, and radio) which promote a programme or programmes on the same channel or station the advertisement is broadcast on.	More information: https://www.bsa.govt.nz/complaints/
it is about classifications of films, publications, or computer games.	More information: https://www.classificationoffice.govt.nz/
it is about print and digital editorial content.	More information: https://www.mediacouncil.org.nz/
it is about live oral communications, including telephone calls and announcements or direct approaches from street marketers.	This could be an issue for the Government agencies with jurisdiction to enforce the relevant legislation. More information: https://www.asa.co.nz/resources/advertising-regulation-guide/
it is about advertising on television between 6am and 12 noon on Sundays or Anzac Day or advertising on television and radio on Good Friday, Christmas Day, and Easter Sunday.	More information: Section 81 of the Broadcasting Act 1989. This part of the Act is administered by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.
it is about the use of Te Reo Māori in advertisements. Exception: The ASA will consider complaints about issues relating to correct pronunciation.	Te Reo Māori is an official language in New Zealand. Its use in advertising is not a breach of the ASA Codes.
it is about private correspondence, including correspondence between organisations and their customers about existing relationships or past purchases.	This could be an issue for the agencies with jurisdiction to enforce the relevant legislation. More information: https://www.asa.co.nz/resources/advertising-regulation-guide/
it is about reports including public affairs messages in press releases and other media statements, annual reports, statements on matters of public policy and the like.	This could be an issue for the agencies with jurisdiction to enforce the relevant legislation. More information: https://www.asa.co.nz/resources/advertising-regulation-guide/
it would involve determining questions of law.	These may be matters for the statutory agencies with jurisdiction to enforce the relevant legislation. More information: https://www.asa.co.nz/resources/advertising-regulation-guide/
it is about a service issue, label directions or performance of products and services not related to advertising or marketing claims.	Issues about service should be raised directly with the advertiser. The ASA does not deal with product efficacy. More information: https://comcom.govt.nz/consumers/your-rights-as-a-consumer
it is about posts from political parties, candidates, and election-related advocacy groups on their social media pages (referred to as organic posts) where there is no further distribution of this content by the advertiser, or it is about content on their own websites.	This content is presented from a particular perspective and should be viewed in that context. Concerns about an organic post can be raised directly with the social media platform. See below for links to the support pages of many common platforms: Twitter: https://help.twitter.com/en/forms Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/help/263149623790594 Instagram: https://help.instagram.com/192435014247952 TikTok: https://support.tiktok.com/en/safety-hc/report-a-problem Snapchat: https://support.snapchat.com/en-US/a/report-abuse-in-app#report-account Complaints about harmful content may be considered by Netsafe. More information: https://netsafe.org.nz/
it is about posts for causes and ideas on platforms that consumers choose to access where there is no further distribution of this content by the advertiser, or it is about content on their own websites.	This content is presented from a particular perspective and should be viewed in that context. Concerns about an organic post can be raised directly with the social media platform. See below for links to the support pages of many common platforms: Twitter: https://help.twitter.com/en/forms Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/help/263149623790594 Instagram: https://help.instagram.com/192435014247952 TikTok: https://support.tiktok.com/en/safety-hc/report-a-problem Snapchat: https://support.snapchat.com/en-US/a/report-abuse-in-app#report-account Complaints about harmful content may be considered by Netsafe. More information: https://netsafe.org.nz/
it is about an advertisement that originated outside of New Zealand not seen by New Zealand audiences.	If this advertising is seen by New Zealand consumers, when considering jurisdiction, the Chair of the Complaints Board will take the following into account: 1. Compliance with the advertising rules in the country of origin. 2. The size and composition of the New Zealand audience. 3. Whether the advertising is targeted at New Zealand consumers. 4. The accessibility of the product to New Zealand consumers. 5. Whether best endeavours have been made to exclude advertisements which would clearly breach the Advertising Codes of Practice. This could be particularly relevant in the case of live presentations of overseas events to a substantial number of New Zealanders.
it is about highly technical issues.	The ASA is focused on the consumer takeout of advertisements and does not have expertise to analyse highly technical issues.
it is about the loudness of television advertisements.
it is about the number of advertisements on a media platform or across all platforms or the frequency of individual advertisements.	The ASA does not regulate the number of advertisements across all platforms or the frequency of individual advertisements.
it is about media coverage of an advertisement.	These complaints should be directed to the media company in the first instance with a right of appeal to the BSA or the Media Council.
it is about an advertisement which is the subject of litigation or an order by a court or government agency.	The Courts and government agencies are senior jurisdictions to the ASA.