Betty Buchanan

To the average consumer, it might not seem like there is any regulation in the advertising industry. Consumers are constantly bombarded with ads and messages, and it seems like there is no end and no limit. However, despite what it feels like, the advertising industry is actually pretty highly regulated. Here are some interesting examples of just how ads and advertising are regulated in the United States today.

Five Ways U.S. Advertising is Regulated

In the United States, advertising is regulated most thoroughly by the Federal Trade Commission, the governing body overseeing advertisement (among other things). Although there may be other regulations imposed by states or local government bodies, the highest authority for the regulation of advertising in the U.S. is the Federal trade Commission, or FTC. Some examples of the work performed by this body, and the results of some of their labors, are as follows:

1. The United States most highly regulates advertising in two categories. The first of this is in false advertising. Simply put deceptive, misleading, or false advertisements are illegal, but in reality the practice, prevention, and control of the practice is a very complex issue.
2. The second most highly regulated are of advertising in the United States in in the advertising of health-related ads. Similar care is taken in the advertisement of products relating to health and the claims that these advertisers make, although again the issue is not as cut-and-dried as it might seem to be, as there are many evolving definitions of what constitutes “health” advertisement and what category of classification products fall into.
3. A close competitor to these two is the regulation of advertisement for tobacco and tobacco-related products. Advertising for tobacco products has been banned in the US on TV and radio since the 1970’s; regulations have recently been expanded to include sponsorship of many forms of cultural and sporting events.
4. The FTC has worked hard to restrict abuses by telemarketers, enacting laws governing practices such as Pay-per-call and Telemarketing Sales Rules, giving birth to such consumer protections as the national “Do Not Call” list.
5. More and more, the development and revelation of privacy policies and truthful disclosures has become a way of life in the U.S., thanks to regulations requiring such disclosures. We often see these in the form of annual privacy policies form businesses, and the “fine print” either printed or stated in ads.

One of the biggest ways advertisers are regulated in the U.S., although not a direct rule or law, is through consumer information and education by groups like the FTC. The attitude of the FTC is that prevention is the most effective weapon against abuses and consumer exploitation, and so one of their tasks is to continually make consumers aware of their rights and the way advertising is regulated in the U.S. The FTC maintains a through websites and system of complaint resolution which is easily accessible to consumers at www.ftc.gov/index.shtml.

Maryellen Ward is very knowledgeable when it comes to advertising programs.