Context
ASA/CAP publish regular hints and tips in relation to keeping your marketing and advertising compliant, and its latest articles cover the use of AI as a marketing term, including important information and not making any misleading omissions, and being able to verify competitor comparisons.
Key points to note and next actions
AI has become more available to the public (including businesses), and marketers are increasingly using AI terminology to promote a wide array of products. Marketers are responsible for ensuring their marketing complies with the Advertising Codes. If it fails or does not work as promised, they cannot blame a third-party developer for misleading efficacy claims that may result, or claim they aren’t responsible because they don’t understand the technology or don’t know how to test it.
How to make sure your ads comply – All ads that include a comparison with an identifiable competitor need to make sure that the comparison is verifiable. This applies to both broadcast and non-broadcast ads and isn’t confined to price comparisons. The ad must provide enough information to enable consumers to fully understand, and check the accuracy of comparative claims. In order to ensure that this is the case, an ad should include, for example, information about what the comparative claim is based on and (in some cases) a signpost to where consumers can find this information.
One of the main principles of the Code is that ads should not materially mislead. Ads should be including all the information a consumer needs in order to decide whether or not to respond to it, if it matters, make sure it’s included.