The ASA's latest decision on native advertising has worrying
implications for both brands and publishers, both of which face
continuing regulatory challenges. The greatest concern is that the
balance between freedom to advertise and consumer protection has
now been tipped too far towards the latter, undermining the utility
of native advertising for both brands and publishers.
The latest decision concerned an advertorial on BuzzFeed for
Dylon's Colour Catcher. Part of the problem stemmed from the
fact that the content was similar in look and feel to the editorial
content on a typical BuzzFeed post, being a 'listicle'
entitled "14 laundry Fails We've Experienced."
However, immediately below the headline of the article was Dylon
Colour Catcher logo and text stating "Dylon Brand
Publisher," with a link to the Dylon page on BuzzFeed. This is
in contrast with BuzzFeed editorial content, where there are
photographs of the author, their name, and a title, such as
"BuzzFeed
