Today, Wednesday 14 August, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that video on demand and TV advertisements for Volkswagen and Philadelphia cheese (Mondelez International) were in breach of the recent gender stereotyping rules.
The ASA’s ban on harmful gender stereotypes in advertising came into force on 14 June, and today’s rulings are the first since that date.
In response to the rulings, ISBA’s Director General, Phil Smith said:
“As members of CAP, we sat as part of the working group which developed the new rule and guidance and are fully supportive of its introduction. However, we find these initial rulings concerning both in terms of the precedent they set and the likely impact they will have on advertisers.
In our view, the two decisions go beyond the intent of the new rule and guidance and will likely create confusion for advertisers and the broader co-regulatory system as they seek to address the harmful gender stereotypes and outdated portrayals this rule was designed to tackle. We look forward to discussing this more with the ASA and our members in due course.”