United Kingdom

[GB] Undertakings Given to Office of Fair Trading Regarding

IRIS 1999-2:1/27

David Goldberg

deeJgee Research/Consultancy

Although the agreement containing the undertakings was given on behalf of Sport Newspapers Ltd (as publishers of the "Daily Sport" and "Sunday Sport"), the agreement is of general interest also to the audio-visual community. It was made under The Control of Misleading Advertisements Regulations, 1988; the Regulations transpose the EC Directive on Misleading Advertising into UK law and came into force on 20 June 1988. The Director-General of the OFT is empowered to use the regulation to strengthen and complement existing rules concerning advertising. However, a breach of the agreement can result in the OFT seeking an injunction in the High Court in order to prevent further publication. The adverts in question were for slimming products and were written by the papers' editorial staff as part of a promotional campaign to boost circulation and loyalty. The OFT argued that the copy contained "false claims" about the products. These called for the OFT to exercise its power to protect consumers, whose insecurities and hopes were being manipulated by the adverts. The editor agreed to sign undertakings to desist from publishing misleading advertisements in the papers in the future.