Draft:Advertising restrictions

Many countries around the world have established various restrictions on advertising. Academics, journalists, and activists have called for the creation of additional restrictions.

Restrictions by country

 * In the UK, the country's "advertising watchdog", the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) banned a campaign by Ryanair "which urged customers to fly with "Europe's Lowest Fares, Lowest Emissions Airline. Everybody knows that when you fly Ryanair you enjoy the lowest fares. But do you know you are travelling on the airline with Europe’s lowest emissions as well?" as they found its claims misleading. It also banned 'green' ad campaign by Shell as it was found to "likely to mislead". in 2020, the UK government proposed a ban on online advertising of junk food.


 * In Germany, there are plans for new restrictions on advertising for unhealthy sweets for children in specific.

Restrictions in online platforms
{image needed} Various types of disputed advertising is shown on YouTube. One type concerns climate misinformation. According to news reports, Google promised to stop running ads of this type alongside videos and other content but as of 2023 hasn't effectively done so.

Food and drink
Multiple reviews and many studies indicate restrictions on advertisements for food classified as unhealthy are needed and would be effective.

A 2018 study hypothesizes health benefits of bans on advertising for unhealthy foods are partially offset "by firms lowering prices and by consumer switching to other junk foods".

A review on the health effects of sugars concludes that their findings "promote the development of policies worldwide" for "restrictions on advertising and marketing" alongside sugars taxes, food labelling laws, and possibly other measures.

Misleading ads regarding environmental issues
The Advertising Standards Authority banned Airline adverts for being misleading, some have called 'greenwashing', as they claimed the airlines would enable people to "travel better and sustainably" which due to the environmental effects of aviation is not true. Advertisements may also be a subject in air travel demand reduction.

There has been criticism of car advertisements. For example, data has shown U.S. automakers "are spending at least twice as much to push their largest models of electric vehicles" compared to more compact options.

In 2023, the book Badvertising: Polluting Our Minds and Fuelling Climate Chaos about the psychological, social and environmental costs of advertising is released, suggesting that the advertisment industry is a substantial barrier to the transformation to sustainability and climate goals.

Drugs
There have been calls for advertisement restrictions of pharmaceutical and recreational drugs, the latter largely in the light of recent or potential drug liberalizations – mainly cannabis legalizations. The U.S., a prime region of the opioid epidemic, is one of only two countries to allow direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical ads. Such adverts may be relevant to consumer protection. A public health approach to legalizations may involve "providing protection to children and youth and other vulnerable and marginalized populations through careful regulation of (1) the availability of and access to cannabis products; (2) advertising and marketing; (3) product potency, form, and characteristics; and (4) packaging and labeling".

For example, there has been a report about attractive billboards advertising marijuana dispensaries in plain view of underage kids in California. A study suggested "advertising restrictions may be needed to protect youths and young adults from pro-use messages".

Entities other than the manufacturers like health care insurers, start-up clinics, telemedicine start-ups are increasingly marketing prescription drugs but in many countries are "not being held to any standard regarding what they can say about the drugs in question". A study found social media cited among the most frequent channels from which cannabis advertisements were noticed across U.S. and Canadian jurisdictions.

Advertising exposure and parenting
A scientific review about risks and benefits of screen time by children suggested further research may show a better approach than merely reducing screen time would be for parents to promote interactive educational experiences but limiting exposure to advertising.

Activism and NGOs
A report calls for a ban on advertisements for a type of cars due to climate change-related effects and climate goals.