Marketing and advertising: the law

Business: Sale Goods Services Data

    Overview

    All marketing and advertising must be:

    • an accurate description of the product or service
    • legal
    • decent
    • truthful
    • honest
    • socially responsible (not encouraging illegal, unsafe or anti-social behaviour)

    There are regulations that restrict what advertisers can and can’t do.

    As well as the regulations, there are 2 advertising codes of practice that you need to follow to help you advertise legally.

    You must describe your product or service accurately.

    Requirements for specific products

    There are also specific requirements that apply to certain sectors, such as:

    • food
    • alcohol
    • beauty products
    • environmentally friendly products
    • medicines
    • tobacco

    For example, you can only claim your drink is ‘low in alcohol’ if it contains between 0.5% and 1.2% alcohol by volume.

    Data protection

    If you’re gathering, storing or using information about customers or potential customers, you must also protect their data.

    If you’re advertising or marketing, including direct marketing, you must be accurate and honest and follow the advertising codes of practice

    4. Describing your product

    5. Direct marketing