When you've been ad

YORK store Sarah Coggles was this week accused of mocking human rights violations with a series of "offensive and insensitive" advertising pictures - including one of a man holding up a sign saying: "**** my human rights, I want Duffer sale."

Amnesty International didn't seem bothered by the display and Victoria Bage, the store's owner, dismissed the complaints as "sad".

Nevertheless, it raises once again the question of how far companies and advertisers will go to promote their products. The annals of advertising history are littered with examples of ads that went too far.

Clothing chain French Connection, with its FCUK-XM@S slogan, was one. The Yves Saint Laurent Opium campaign featuring a naked Sophie Dahl, was another. Both companies received a rap over the knuckles from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and were required to pull the offending posters.

Just because an advert attracts lots of complaints, however, doesn't mean it will be banned. In 1999, a poster featuring a cow dreaming of becoming a beefburger with the message: "When I'm a burger, I want to be washed down with Irn-Bru," attracted 589 complaints - but the ASA felt most people would not be offended and took no action.

So just what does constitute an "inappropriate" advert, what can you do if you are worried about one - and what powers do the various regulatory bodies have?

The ASA is responsible for regulating all advertising in magazines and newspapers, as well as posters and billboards.

It is best known for tackling adverts felt to be tasteless or insensitive, such as the FCUK and Opium campaigns. But actually, says spokeswoman Donna Mitchell, such cases amount to only a quarter of all complaints. Most are to do with misleading adverts or mailshots.

A typical case this week was a leaflet advertising the services of a spiritual healer and adviser, known as Professor El Hadj. The professor claimed to be able to "solve all your problems without delay" - including sexual disability, love, financial transactions and even success in the lottery. Birmingham Trading Standards was sceptical, however, and complained to the ASA, claiming there was little proof to support the leaflet's claims, and that it exploited the vulnerable.

The ASA agreed, and ordered the claims be deleted.

So far, so good. The ASA, however, being a self-regulatory body funded by the advertising industry itself, doesn't have powers to impose fines or take out a criminal action.

Its main sanctions include requiring an ad to be pulled, requesting a newspaper or magazine to refuse advertising space to an offending advert and, if push comes to shove, referring an advertiser to the Office of Fair Trading.

Its most powerful weapon, in fact, is probably simple publicity - its decisions are made available to the press. So don't expect redress from here if you've been cheated into parting with cash by a dodgy mailshot.

When it comes to broadcast adverts, there are two regulatory bodies, the Radio Authority (for radio) and the Independent Television Commission (ITC). The ITC is a statutory authority responsible for regulating programme content and advertising on commercial TV.

TV broadcasters are expected to abide by the advertising code of practice drawn up by the ITC - a code which embodies all relevant UK law covering areas like legality, decency and truthfulness. It is the broadcaster's responsibility to vet adverts before screening to ensure they comply with the code. If a complaint is subsequently received, the ITC can investigate and, if it finds an advert in breach of the code, require a broadcaster to withdraw it - under pain, ultimately, of losing its licence.

Most complaints to the ITC relate to adverts that are felt to be misleading or offensive. But sometimes it takes action against adverts on the grounds they could be harmful.

In February 2000, for example, the ITC upheld complaints against Tango for an ad campaign featuring a group of orange-haired men using toy megaphones to mock and jeer a youth for not being a Tango drinker. The ITC ruled the ads could encourage bullying, and ordered them to be pulled.

The official regulatory bodies do have some powers to regulate advertisers then. But they're more there to oversee standards in the advertising industry than to champion the cause of the individual, or to help you seek redress.

So if simply seeing an offending advert scrapped isn't enough for you, your first port of call should probably be your local trading standards department.

Liz Levett, of York Trading Standards, says officers would be happy to advise on the best course of action. And - especially if you feel you have been cheated into parting with money - they will be able to look at whether a criminal offence has been committed. Liz's advice is to go to trading standards first. Even if they can't help, they will be able to tell you who can.

- The ASA can be contacted on 0207 580 5555. The ITC is on 0207 255 3000, the Radio Authority on 0207 430 2724.

Updated: 08:52 Thursday, January 24, 2002