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Advertising policy: Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council

Advertising policy: Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council (BWDBC) welcomes the opportunity to publicise information that is likely to be of interest to residents and is appropriate proper and lawful through its various communication channels. This policy provides guidelines for the acceptance of all forms of advertising, both in print and electronic formats.

2.0 The Principles

2.1 The policy assumes that all advertising presented falls within the rules and guidelines laid down by the Advertising Standards Authority and the British Codes of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing. The basic principles of the codes are that advertisements should be:

legal, decent, honest and truthful
prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and society
in line with generally accepted standards of fair competition in business and
reflect the spirit as well as the letter of the codes

The policy aims to reflect the recommended code of practice laid out for local authorities. (link below)

3.0 BWDBC Approach

3.1 We are keen to maximise revenue from advertising and wherever possible will permit advertising and sponsorship on or via our assets. Therefore, rather than define specific permitted advertising, we will work on the basis that advertising is permitted unless it falls into a number of prohibited categories (see following section).

4.0 Appropriate advertising

4.1 Appropriate advertising includes products or services that are in keeping with our Corporate Plan and do not conflict with other parts of this policy.

4.2 We will welcome the opportunity to work with both local and national organisations if they comply with the advertising policy.

4.3 The adverts will support the local economy.

5.0 Inappropriate or prohibited advertising

Types of organisations are deemed inappropriate:-

Political organisations
Manufacturers of tobacco products and related items (e.g. vaping paraphernalia)
Manufacturers of alcohol products
Advertising from any organisation associated with ‘adult industries’ will not be permitted.
Any content or advertising which has an overtly sexual ‘tone’ will also be excluded.

5.1 Types or products and services prohibited

Advertising should not promote any of the following:

Pornography, adult services or industries, or companies involved in sexual exploitation of adults or children
alcoholic drinks
gambling
loans and speculative financial products
tobacco and related products
weapons, violence or anti-social behaviour of any description
those that give undue publicity to inappropriate behaviour or lifestyles.
discrimination

5.2 The Council will not accept advertising that conflicts with the core values or policies of the Council in any way. We reserve the right to decide whether an issue is or is not contentious and if the advertising may or may not be displayed.

6.0 Religious advertising

The Council, as a secular body, has to be extremely careful on whether to permit religious advertising.

As the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) states:

“Religion and belief are potentially extremely sensitive subjects. References to religion in marketing communications, even humorous ones, have the capacity to cause serious offence.”

Our default position, therefore, is to remain neutral on matters of faith and belief and not accept advertising which contains specifically religious content. We do draw a distinction between religious advertising and adverts which may reference, say a religious festival, but is widely recognised as being celebrated by people of all faiths and none such as Christmas

7.0 Style & content

BWDBC is bound by duties and requirements under the Equality Act 2010, Highways Act 1980, Traffic Management Act 2004, Planning laws and other legislation.

8.0 Due Diligence

8.1 As a public body, we are committed to conducting our business with honesty and integrity. We are taxpayer funded and our residents expect the highest standards of us. Our reputation is of critical importance in establishing and maintaining our residents’ trust and confidence.

8.2 We, therefore, have to be extremely careful which businesses and organisations we deal with. Before we sell space on our assets. we will do a period of due diligence to ensure the association with the businesses, organisations and individuals we do business with will not harm the reputation of the Council. We reserve the right not to sell space to businesses, organisations and individuals who we feel, after a process of due diligence, would harm our reputation by being associated with them. Should any issue come to light after the advert has started to be displayed, we also reserve the right to terminate the relationship. Before doing so, we will speak to those concerned to investigate the issue and then make a decision.

8.3 The ultimate decision on whether to accept advertising or not rest with the Council and we reserve the right to decline offering advertising space to any company or organisation should we feel it necessary.

9.0 Disclaimer

9.1 We make reasonable efforts to ensure that only advertisements suitable for ‘family viewing’ appear through council channels. However the council does not control third party sites, content or products. Advertisers may have different use, styles and privacy policies, for which we cannot accept responsibility for these. The inclusion of an advert on one of our assets does not imply that the product or service is endorsed by the Council.

9.2 We will display a link to this advertising policy on any page of our website which carries advertising and an email link so that customers with any concerns can raise them promptly with the council. We will respond in line with our complaints procedure, unless the issue requires faster action to remove unsuitable content.

9.3 The learning captured from our advertising experiences will be used to review the policy as necessary

Get in touch

Tell us about your advertising needs:

Online form
Email: bwdadvertising@blackburn.gov.uk
Call: 01254 585551