Clearcast, RACC and the ASA enlist help of dermatological experts
Will help address disagreement between different advertising bodies
A panel of dermatological experts will provide advice for Clearcast, RACC and the ASA on the adequacy of evidence supporting claims in ads both prior to it appearing and afterwards if the claims are challenged.
It is hoped the initiative will address some areas of disagreement between experts advising the different bodies, which has resulted in the ASA declaring certain (mostly TV) ads misleading after they’d been assessed and accepted by the clearance bodies and their own experts.
The panel will include Dr Susan Mayou, Professor Mark Birch-Machin, Dr Robin Dover, Dr Jack Ferguson and Dr Chris Gummer, who will start work on 3 January.
Its establishment is intended to reduce disagreement over acceptable standards of evidence, increase certainty for advertisers, increase consumer confidence in beauty advertising claims and provide consistency by establishing protocols on how scientific evidence for advertising claims should be assessed.
The process includes several steps: pre-clearance, where the expert assesses evidence and may refer questions to another expert or the whole panel if further clarity is needed; complaint and pre-investigation, where the ASA assesses the complaint and may ask clearance body for response; investigation, where the ASA will use another expert from the panel to help resolve the issue; disagreement protocols, if there is no consensus between the two experts, there is the opportunity to put the specific issue to the panel for a consensus opinion; and panel operation and consensus voting – this may be necessary in order to gain consensus on a specific point and decisions will be decided my a majority vote. According to the three organisations, the sixth step – expert representation externally – should not be necessary as the panel will operate internally.
For more information visit: www.clearcast.co.uk/dermatology.html