Dealing with gamers Advertising and promotions How is advertising regulated? actual gameplay’ is unlikely to prevent an ad from misleading In the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the independent consumers. regulator of advertisements. Ads must not condone or glorify violence or the use of weapons. If Advertisements and marketing violent imagery is used, it must not communications for (or within) games be excessive or graphic, even when will fall within the remit of the UK reflective of the content of the game. Code of Non-broadcast Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing The ASA has chosen not to uphold (CAP Code) or the UK Code of a complaint about a video game Broadcast Advertising (BCAP Code), poster featuring a man holding a which are both enforced by the ASA. gun in each hand, with two people hanging upside down from a tree The central principle of the CAP in the background. It considered the and BCAP Codes is that marketing absence of graphic violence meant communications should be legal, that the image was unlikely to decent, honest and truthful. They cause fear or distress to adults or must be prepared with a sense of children. By contrast, an ad that responsibility to consumers and featured images of a flayed corpse society and must respect principles wrapped in barbed wire of fair competition generally was considered too gory. accepted in business. Objectification and sexual violence Ads must not be misleading. For are unlikely to be acceptable in example, the content of ads for ads for games, even if they feature games should reflect the product heavily in the game itself, but this and be representative of the may depend on the context of the gameplay. If in-play footage is used, ad. Overt sexualisation, negative it should be footage from the game depictions and condoning violence/ in question. A qualification or small assault against both women print such as ‘Not representative of and men are likely to breach the 87