Ad copywriting

Most of us see adverts every day without thinking about who wrote them. An advert has only a few words, or a few seconds, to do its job. Those words also have to meet the UK advertising rules, whether they run in print, on a poster, online, in a cinema, or on TV and radio.

The brief and the audience

Good ad copy starts with a brief. The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) describes briefing as giving an agency the right information to work from. An earlier IPA guide, from 2013, says a written brief is important but not enough on its own, and explains the role of a briefing meeting.

The audience shapes what an advert can say. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) judges an ad by its likely effect on consumers, not by what the advertiser intended. It looks at the impression an ad creates as well as its specific claims.

Print, posters, online and cinema

Non-broadcast ads follow the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing, known as the CAP Code. The ASA calls it "the rule book for non-broadcast advertisements, sales promotions and direct marketing communications". Rule 3.1 reads: "Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so."

The same Code covers ads shown in cinemas. The ASA says the Cinema Advertising Association pre-clears the scripts for these ads. Online, the ASA expects influencers and celebrities to label a post with the word "ad" or "advert" when a brand pays for it and controls what it says.

Claims, small print and space

CAP rule 3.7 says that before an ad goes out, "marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective". If the copy makes that kind of claim, the advertiser needs the evidence in hand before the ad runs.

Rule 3.9 says qualifications "may clarify but must not mislead by contradicting the claims that they qualify". Rule 3.3 says important information must not be left out, or shown in a way the consumer is unlikely to see or hear. The ASA takes account of the limits of time or space that each medium sets.

TV and radio

Ads on TV and radio services licensed by Ofcom follow the BCAP Code. Its rule 3.1 reads: "Advertisements must not materially mislead or be likely to do so." Rule 3.8 bars images of very brief duration, or any other technique likely to influence consumers without their being fully aware of it.

In a TV ad, words come as voice-over and as text on screen. BCAP rule 3.11 reads: "Qualifications must not mislead by not being presented clearly." BCAP has published guidance on superimposed text to go with it.

Getting a broadcast ad cleared

Clearcast clears TV ads in three stages: the script, the rough cut and the final ad. The rough cut stage is optional, though Clearcast strongly recommends it. The script goes in with any substantiation, the evidence for claims in the ad. Clearcast says it should outline everything that will be in the ad, including voice-overs, visuals and text. At rough cut, Clearcast checks that legal text on screen is tall enough and stays up long enough to read.

For commercial radio, Radiocentre's clearance service checks ads against the BCAP Code and the Ofcom Broadcasting Code. For non-broadcast ads, the CAP Copy Advice team offers advice before publication. It can look at concepts, imagery and copy.

Rulings and the law

The ASA publishes its rulings every Wednesday. They set out on the public record where it draws the line on whether an ad has broken the rules.

Behind the Codes sits the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. Section 225 says: "Unfair commercial practices are prohibited." Under section 226, a misleading action includes "the provision of false or misleading information relating to a product". The ASA takes Chapter 1 of Part 4 of the Act into account when it rules on misleading ads.

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