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Marketers warned of Bailey report impact

By Holly Jones | June 8, 2011

Certain advertisements will not be allowed near schools under the report's recommendations
Certain advertisements will not be allowed near schools under the report's recommendations
The Bailey Review was published this week, alerting marketers to several changes of which they will need to be aware. 

The repost, which received support from Prime Minister David Cameron, gave several recommendations. These include prohibiting under-16s from peer-to-peer marketing, covering up risqué front pages of newspapers and magazines and restricting sexualised advertising near schools.

The British Retail Consortium has provided new guidelines to marketers as a result of the report, including guidelines on age-appropriate clothing. Nine major high street stores have already signed up to this guideline, including Asda and Debenhams.

There were some issues with the report, however. It was suggested that some areas were not fully defined as to what was appropriate. Guy Parker, chief executive of the Advertising Standards Authority, said that the new rules would be tougher to implement.

Parker argued that some advertising restrictions have been easier to implement, such as banning alcohol advertising near schools. He said that sexualised content would be harder to classify. However, he praised the development of a new website enabling parents to comment on advertisements they thought were inappropriate.

Despite concerns, Parker said:  “The protection of children from harmful of inappropriate advertising is one of the Advertising Standards Authority’s top priorities and to do this we know we need to reflect the views of parents and young people in our work.

“We welcome Reg Bailey’s recommendations on advertising and we’re committed to making sure that parents have the confidence to raise their concerns and to know that they’ll be heard.”

Reg Bailey, chief executive of the Mother’s Union and the author of the report, said: “If there is a swimwear ad there may well be a lot of flesh on display, but it doesn't make it a sexualised image.

“One thing that parents came out with very strongly was perfume ads, where often the models were fully clothed, but draped inappropriately across men and this [was viewed] as demeaning of women.”

Bailey went on to say that he hoped publishers would examine the suitability of certain magazine covers due to the recommendation that ‘lad’s mags’ censor their covers, saying: “I hope that ‘modesty boards’ will encourage people to re-look at what they put on front pages. I hope it's going to create pressure.”

David Cameron has confirmed that the progress of the new recommendations will be monitored by politicians.

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