With food advertising under the spotlight thanks to the childhood obesity epidemic, the Advertising Federation of Australia (AFA) has launched a series of workshops to help agencies get on top of the new AANA food and beverage code of conduct and other industry codes.
The September workshops will be held in mainland capital cities and are aimed at ensuring agencies comply with industry codes of conduct, one of eight steps they need to take in order to achieve AFA accreditation.
The workshops will cover specific industry codes relating to motor vehicles, alcohol and other relevant products. Other workshop presentations will include an overview on restrictions on advertising in children’s TV time and placement of alcohol ads by Free TV Australia and an update on decisions, trends and complaints from the Advertising Standards Bureau.
AANA executive director Colin Segelov will also provide an overview of global trends in advertising regulation.
AFA general manager Chris Thomas said the workshops were particularly relevant to “anyone who is interacting with clients and building campaigns, especially in areas like food, alcohol and motor vehicle”.
“If an agency has clients in any of these areas they really should be attending the workshop,” he said.
While the federal government has said it was not interested in further regulating the advertising industry, state ministers and consumers had their spotlights on advertising, which in turn put the pressure on advertisers and agencies to abide by the codes, Thomas said.
“It’s not just about [potential] government legislation but the practical consequences,” he said.
“If agencies don’t comply and a complaint to the Advertising Standards Bureau is upheld the campaign has to be withdrawn after hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent.”
AFA accreditation was launched in February this year and 124 of the 160 AFA member agencies have joined the accreditation program. Agencies have 12 months to meet the accreditation standards, including compliance with industry codes.
