The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has recently published its response to the consultation on the advertising and street trading regulations for London 2012, together with the final form of the regulations which will be laid before Parliament (known as the Advertising and Street Trading Regulations).
The Advertising and Street Trading Regulations are part of the regulatory framework introduced by the Government as part of its promise to the International Olympic Committee to implement effective measures to tackle ambush marketing of the Olympics. In force since 2006 has been the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006, which seeks to prevent non-sponsors of London 2012 from creating an association with their brand and the Games, for example by featuring references to London 2012 or competing athletes in an unjustifiable manner in marketing materials. The Advertising and Street Trading Regulations supplement this law by targeting physical marketing stunts and unauthorised trading in and around stadia. The effect is that all advertising activity in restricted zones around events during event periods which is not authorised will constitute a criminal offence and offenders (and their management) may face fines and enforcement action.
In its response, the DCMS has pronounced that, in general, it is satisfied that the draft regulations were appropriate and proportionate. Accordingly, the final form Advertising and Street Trading Regulations differ very little from the initial draft. Amongst the key changes and comments in the consultation to note are:
- some of the restricted advertising zones around events have been extended to include key London landmarks, such as Westminster Abbey;
- the DCMS has confirmed that enforcement powers will be delegated to specially trained local authority officers;
- adverts received on mobile phones and other portable communications devices will not infringe the regulations (so long as they are not intended for wider public display); and
- charitable promotions are permitted in limited circumstances, but cannot be associated with a commercial brand.
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