Posted 23 November 2015
This article written by patent attorney, Hans Muhlberg, is reproduced here with permission from the author.
Open season for snake oil salesmen?
Does the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) have the jurisdiction to rule on adverts placed by companies that aren’t members of the ASA?
If you’re involved in ASA matters, you’ll know that it’s not uncommon for the ASA to rule on such ads. You’ll also know that these rulings tend to be effective, despite the fact that the ASA is a voluntary body, whose rulings are only binding on its members. The reason is simple – the SA media companies (electronic, TV, print, billboard) belong to the ASA, which means that as soon as the ASA rules that an ad contravenes the ASA Code (by making unsubstantiated claims for example), the media companies refuse to touch the ad. So the ad’s … Read the rest