LO4: Legal and Ethical Issues

The ASA, Advertising Standards Authority, is the authority that would oversee my graphic design promotional campaign. They would ensure that my design work does not contain anything misleading, harmful or offensive, based on the Advertising Code. Below I will give a few examples of how my work adheres to relevant sections of the Code.

The "compliance" section of the Advertising Code states that promotional material should be honest and truthful. It should have a "sense of responsibility to society" and the material should not bring advertising into disrepute. My poster and merchandise advertises the Steel Thunder festival cleanly and in a harmless way so it complies with this section of the Code.

The "misleading advertising" section of the Code states that promotional material must not mislead viewers by: failing to mention important information; making false claims; presenting information in an unclear manner. Material should also not deceive viewers about the price of something if prices are involved. Since my poster contains ticket prices, I will make sure these are finalised and 100% correct before making my final version. I will also ensure that all social media information and web links are correct, so that my poster and merchandise will not mislead anyone.

The "harm and offence" section of the Code ensures that widespread offence is not caused by promotional material. The most important topics to be careful around are race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability and age. Material also should not cause fear or distress, or promote anti-social behaviour like violence. My festival has a majority male audience who would all be over 18, so when making my promotional material I would be careful not to cause offence on the age and gender fronts. Anti-social behaviour could potentially happen at the festival too (despite that not being my intention), which would definitely not be shown on my material.

Finally, another relevant section of the code to my festival is "alcohol". This section states that promotional material should be responsible to society by not promoting excessive drinking. It should also not portray the effects of alcohol in any kind of positive light, for example by showing alcohol as a confidence booster. In order to show alcohol in any kind of way whatsoever, material must be aimed at adults (18+). Since my festival has a target audience which starts at age 18, my promotional material can show alcohol. However, I don't think I will include it on my poster or on my merchandise because it isn't necessary, and viewers, as rock fans, will realise it is going to be a part of  the festival.