Parliamentary Scenarios

House of Commons-type spoofs/scenarios and sound effects are acceptable. The RACC advises that advance permission is sought for any non-derogatory reference to, or portrayals of, parliamentarians.


Passing Off

Use of a competitor's name by another advertiser could result in action for passing off. A misrepresentation to the public that the competitor's products are somehow associated with the advertiser could confuse or mislead and damage the competitor's goodwill. Legal advice is recommended.


Pawnbrokers

Advertisers must hold a licence under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and comply with the Consumer Credit (Advertisements) Regulations 2004.


Pet Shops

Pet shops as advertisers need to show that they hold a licence from the relevant Local Authority.


Physiotherapists - RACC clearance is required.

These may advertise, subject to satisfactory medical evidence of any factual claim and with evidence of practitioners' bona fides (See 'Consumer Advice Services' for further guidance on bona fides needed).


Police, The

Permission is required for references to specific constabularies.

Police radio soundalikes may be used provided that they clearly come across as spoofs.


'Political' Advertising

RACC clearance is required and includes advertising by COI/Government and local/ county/regional/borough council campaigns, humanitarian advertisers, trade unions and similar bodies.

Party political advertisements are prohibited on commercial radio.

The BCAP Radio Advertising Standards Code bans all advertising by bodies with 'political' objects. 'Political' is defined in a wider sense than 'party political' and includes 'issue campaigning', advertising by lobbying organisations and advertising which is trying to influence opinions on legislation or public policy.

The BCAP Radio Advertising Standards Code bans any advertisement that is directed towards a 'political end'. If the reason or motive for, or purpose of, placing the advertisement is 'political', the advertisement is unacceptable.

The BCAP Radio Advertising Standards Code bans all copy which is biased against or towards political or public policy matters. Neither the alleged merits nor criticisms about local, regional, national or international governments, policy or legislation can be indicated in the copy.

The BCAP Radio Advertising Standards Code bans advertisements which have any relation to any industrial dispute/strike (other than a public service advertisement inserted by a government department) or further or express partiality in relation to strikes. However, following or during a strike, advertisements may factually inform listeners of the resumption/disruption of normal services or working hours.

Trade unions can advertise but copy must not mention matters of political or industrial controversy. Trade unions may recruit members and promote the services they provide but may not advertise for support in a ballot, or refer to particular employers.

Advertisements by central Government (e.g. COI) and by councils are only acceptable where they consist of factual information about Government's/councils' executive (rather than political) functions within existing legislation. Copy must be neutral in content, tone and style. Whilst 'Vote for change in local Government' is unacceptable, 'Call X to find out how you can register your vote in the local elections' is acceptable.

As of Jan 2004:

RACC can only accept campaigns that consist of neutral, impartial information and do not "sell" a government policy, show any partiality or make the facts in the copy "promotional" for government;

Neutral, non-partisan information about a current/decided policy would be acceptable, but references to future policy would probably be unacceptable;

RACC will need to take into consideration the production of the draft copy and may need to hear "dummy" ads;

RACC may need to "time limit" some campaigns to ensure that clearances concerning matters which are not politically controversial at clearance stage are not broadcast if they have since become politically controversial matters.


Pregnancy-Testing Kits and Services - RACC clearance is required.

Reputable clinics may advertise their pregnancy-testing services.

Copy must be written sensitively, e.g., if the advertisement is targeted towards helping pregnant women decide upon a course of action, there should be no references or implications either towards or against abortion.

Careful scheduling will be advised by the RACC.


Premium Rate Telephone Services

Clearers should obtain a written assurance that the advertiser/service provider complies with all relevant sections of the code of practice kept by PayPhonePlus, the independent committee that supervises telephone information services.

Clearers must ensure that premium rate telephone services do not fall into a prohibited advertisement category as listed in the BCAP Radio Advertising Standards Code.

Copy must include the cost of calls to each premium rate telephone service promoted, e.g. 'Calls cost xp per minute'. Call charges are generally based on the per minute cost of a call from a BT landline. Where charges exceed this basic rate for a significant number of users, a tag such as "calls from mobiles may vary / may be higher" is needed. Furthermore, if the service is a mobile phone service targeted at mobile phone users, the script will need to state the correct call charge over and above the equivalent cost from a BT landline. In all cases, a tag such as "premium rate charges apply" is not sufficient.

Call charges should be stated immediately after the premium rate number.

Copy must state the name of either the advertiser/service provider or the information provider so that listeners can contact them directly.

Advertisements for non-live or message exchange services which normally last over five minutes must include a warning that 'use of the service/s might involve a long call' (or similar wording).

'Fixed release' calls (i.e. calls which are ended automatically after ten seconds) do not need pricing information but stations must warn listeners of the likely cumulative costs following repeated calling.


Presenter-Read Advertisements

All station presenters may voice commercials (irrespective of whether the commercial falls with the presenter's own programme), provided that a proper distinction is made between the programming material and the advertising material they deliver.

Presenters may not personally endorse an advertiser's or sponsor's products or services. 'The great new single from X band' is acceptable copy but 'this is my favourite top single of the week' is unacceptable copy.

Where presenters voice commercials within their own programmes, the content and style of material should be kept distinct from the content and style of the presenters' programme material. However, where the presentation and/or content of the advertisement may sound similar to programming, presenters should not compromise the impartiality of their programming role, e.g. 'X's fantastic top ten single and they were my special guests on last weeks' Network Chart Show' is unacceptable copy.

A straight factual reference to a presenter's off-air involvement with an advertiser is allowed, e.g. 'I'll be at Y Store's opening night tomorrow'. However, the presenter's words must not be used to endorse or recommend the product/service being advertised, e.g. 'Join me at Y Store's opening night tomorrow to see their new top-of-the-range products and for some fantastic bargains in my opinion'.


Price Promises

You can claim 'lowest/cheapest prices' or 'unbeatable prices' only if the advertiser has a published Price Promise and if the nature of the Promise is explained in the copy, e.g. 'If you find X cheaper elsewhere, we'll double (for 'lowest/cheapest prices' claim) or refund (for 'unbeatable prices' claim) the difference'. Alternatively, if details of the Price Promise are made available in-store, the copy may read 'We won't be beaten on price - see our/ask for our Price Promise in-store'.

If there are any important limitations attached to the Price Promise, these should be referred to in the copy.


Price Guarantees

You can claim 'lowest/cheapest prices guaranteed' or 'unbeatable prices guaranteed' only if the advertiser has a published Price Guarantee whose written terms are available to consumers at the point of sale; if the advertiser conducts regular, ongoing price monitoring of his competitors' prices to ensure that his remain the lowest/cheapest/unbeatable; and if the advertiser confirms that, in the event of any challenge to his 'lowest/cheapest prices guaranteed' claim, he will refund the customer by doing more than just matching the new, lower-found price and, in the event of any challenge to his 'unbeatable prices guaranteed' claim, he will refund the customer with the difference between his original price and the new, lower-found price. In both cases, the advertiser must then reduce his price to the lower-found price.

If there are any important limitations attached to the Price Guarantee, these should be referred to in the copy.


Private Investigators

Advertisers must prove that they are reputable companies and clearers must thoroughly check their bona fides (e.g. is it a registered company, how long has it been in operation, what is the relevant experience of staff? etc.)


Product Placement

The gratuitous mentioning of an advertiser's brand in programming time represents advertising and is not allowed.

Prohibited and Restricted Advertisers and Advertisements on Commercial Radio

Advertisers or advertisements concerned with the following may not advertise on radio:

Please note that an advertisement for an acceptable product or service may be withdrawn if the Advertising Standards Authority considers that a significant effect is to publicise indirectly an unacceptable product or service, e.g. an advertisement offering treatment to achieve weight loss may be unacceptable if such treatment is an unnamed prescription only medicine (which may not be advertised in its own right).


Protection of Privacy

Scripts that refer to, or portray, by any means, living individuals are permitted providing that the person(s) is not shown in an offensive, adverse or defamatory way.

It is strongly recommended, however, that the permission of the featured person(s) is obtained and RACC approval will only be given on this basis.

Portrayals and references should not interfere with those individual's private or family lives and in cases of doubt, legal advice must be obtained that the individual concerned is unlikely to have a successful legal claim.

Impersonations and soundalikes are only acceptable where listeners can recognise them as such and where the person(s) concerned would have no reason to object. Nevertheless, advertisers should seek advance permission and/or legal advice. Permission must be sought from relevant copyright holders for references to, or portrayals of, well-known characters.


Psychology, Psychoanalysis, Psychotherapy and Psychiatry -RACC clearance is required.

Advertisers will only be acceptable if they can provide suitable bona fides, such as evidence of relevant professional expertise and qualifications, accreditation to a relevant body and suitable professional indemnity insurance. (See also 'Consumer Advice Services' for further guidance on bona fides needed).

Advertisers may be asked to show that they are registered with their Local Health Authority.

Claims for these services as a treatment for particular ailments must be supported with satisfactory evidence, should be carefully worded (e.g. '… helps to …') and will be referred to RACC consultants.


Pyramid Selling/Trading Schemes

These are also known as network marketing, direct selling schemes, multi-level marketing and multi-level franchising.

Pyramid selling/trading schemes may be advertised, subject to all relevant legislation, e.g. The Fair Trading Act 1973 as amended by the Trading Schemes Act 1996 and the Trading Schemes Regulations 1997.