Advertising Standards Authority Back On Track

The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa has had a tough time lately.  Financially strapped and forced to undertake an indfunding drive just to stay afloat, it has also had the extent of its jurisdiction challenged in court.

The ASA is a self-regulatory body created by the advertising and marketing industries to establish and enforce standards and principles for advertising in South Africa. As such, membership of the ASA has always been voluntary. However, most advertisers or at least the media owners through which advertising is published are, at least indirectly, members of the ASA by virtue of their being members of industry bodies which are ASA members, such as the Association for Communication and Advertising, Print Media South Africa, the National Association of Broadcasters and the Direct Marketing Association of South Africa, to name but a few.