ASA Ruling on Relx (UK) Ltd.

Relx, an e-cigarette company, paid for an ad to be placed on a third-party website. The ad pictured e-cigarettes and discounted pricing information. UK regulations clearly prohibit online advertising of e-cigarettes but allow a manufacturer to provide factual product information such as the name, content, and price of the product on its own websites. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) reviewed the ad and concluded that the marketing was not targeted exclusively to the trade and prominently featured four nicotine-containing e-cigarettes. Thus, it had the direct or indirect effect of promoting nicotine-containing e-cigarettes and their components which were not licensed as medicines. The ASA ordered that the ad not appear again in the form complained about.

ASA Ruling on Relx (UK) Ltd., Internet (display), Complaint Ref: A23-1194613 Relx (UK) Ltd (2023).

  • United Kingdom
  • Sep 27, 2023
  • Advertising Standards Authority
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Parties

Plaintiff Unidentified complainant

Defendant Relx (UK) Ltd.

Legislation Cited

Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016

CAP Code

Related Documents

Type of Litigation

Tobacco Control Topics

Substantive Issues

None

Type of Tobacco Product

"We acknowledged Relx’s comments regarding their memberships and advertising policy. However, the paid-for ad on the Daily Motion website was not targeted exclusively to the trade and prominently featured four nicotine-containing e-cigarettes, which were not licensed as medicines. The ad featured the Relx logo and an image of e-cigarettes and was published in online media which we considered was promotional. We welcomed Relx’s assurance that the ad had been removed and that existing and upcoming advertising would abide by the Code. However, since the ad had the direct or indirect effect of promoting e-cigarettes which were not licensed as medicines in nonpermitted media, we concluded that it breached the Code."