The Advertising Standards Authority

The Advertising Standards Authority role is to "regulate the content of advertisements, sales promotions and direct marketing in the UK" by investigating "complaints made about ads, sales promotions or direct marketing", (e.g. if a company claims on an advert that their product does something e.g. a foundation claims to give the user flawless skin subsequently influencing the consumer to buy the product and then not producing the effects it said it would e.g. flawless skin due to the model will usually have been airbrushed) deciding whether such advertising complies with its advertising standards codes. These codes stipulate that "before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove all claims, whether direct or implied, that are capable of objective substantiation" (such as documented evidence that when the product was tested it gave the person being tested o flawless skin)and that "no marketing communication should mislead, or be likely to mislead, by inaccuracy, ambiguity, exaggeration, omission or otherwise".