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The Chairman of the Advertising Standards Panel (ASP), Dr. Emmanuel Agu, has assured that the establishment of the panel is not meant to stifle businesses in the sector but to ensure ad materials comply with the established rules and regulations.
Agu gave the assurance at the just-concluded National Advertising Conference (NAC), organised by the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), in Abuja recently.
The ASP Chairman, who was one of the panelists at one of the sessions, tagged: ‘Regulation in The Age of Shifts: Technology Culture and New Business Models’, believed it has become imperative for the Panel to be vigilant and thorough in its processes to avert crises that could negatively impact the equity of the industry.
He believed some brand owners are not always sincere when sending their materials to the panel for vetting, and this, he noted, always results in embarrassment to the panel and the public.
“For instance, there was a brand that claimed in its ad material to be number one in that market segment, a claim we found out to be false because the brand was not really number one in the market but first in one of the categories.
“So, the question is: was there an intention to break the law, and why?” he asked rhetorically.
Agu therefore appealed to practitioners to avail themselves of the content of the rules and regulations so as not to flout such laws guiding ad practice.
“ARCON and ASP are not meant to stifle creativity. On the contrary, we encourage creativity. But such creativity must conform to the rules of advertising. Besides, we have 17 members, representing all of the sectoral groups on the panel. And we are of the strong belief that all of us can not be wrong,” he stated.
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