After asking all advertisers in the motor sector to reduce their T&Cs to just eight seconds, Global Radio is now extending the policy to all sectors. This will be effective from 1 December 2022.
Following February's Consumer Trust Initiative led by Global Radio, which established that some Radio legals (T&Cs) were unnecessarily long and undermining public perceptions of Radio advertising, and a successful test of an 8-second cap on legals in Radio advertising in the Motors category, the 8-second legals cap will now be rolled out to all Radio ads from 1 December 2022.
RadioCentre will be able to advise members on how to remain compliant within this time-limit.
Global Radio has recognised there are some concerns around being able to deliver fully compliant advertising within the 8-second T&Cs cap and have compiled some advice on areas where advertisers can trim down tags. These suggestions are based upon the guidance of the Radiocentre Clearance Service.
11 suggestions to help reduce Terms & Conditions length:
1. Charges apply
Consumers generally understand that there is always a price attached to products.
2. 2 for 1 offers/cheapest item free
It is generally understood by consumers that this is how 2-for-1-style promotions work.
3. Subject to availability
Providing that the advertiser has good reason to believe that they have sufficient availability to meet the demand likely to be generated by the ad, this is in most cases not necessary.
4. Offer end dates
In most cases, there is no need to include an offer end date providing that the ad is withdrawn a reasonable period before the end date.
5. Lists of exclusions
It is not usually necessary to list all the exclusions to an offer, instead a phrase such as ‘selected items’ are excluded would suffice.
6. Repeating information in tags
Where information is included in the body copy, repetition in a tag should be avoided.
7. Telecoms and broadband advertising
Whilst promotions and offers in this sector can be complex, there is no need to include information that doesn’t materially affect listeners' ability to take up an advertised offer.
8. Previous pricing
Where ads quote a price and indicate that the price has been reduced, they are not necessarily required to give an indication of the previous pricing.
9. Contractual terms
Offers are often subject to contractual terms. However, providing that they don't exclude some listeners from the offer, they normally don't need to be included in an ad.
10. Subject to status/subject to credit check
Clearly, information of this kind will need to be communicated to the purchaser during the sales journey, but it would not always be material information for the purposes of a radio ad.
11. Qualifications and clarification
Consumers understand that qualifying criteria apply to offers and it's not always necessary to spell these out where they the condition can be easily complied with and doesn't exclude any listener from participating.
N.B. This guidance aims to provide radio advertisers with some pointers on information that is often included in the T&Cs at the end of ads but which Radiocentre don’t consider would necessarily be regarded as ‘material information’ under BCAP Code Rule 3.2[1], and can therefore be excluded in many circumstances. The guidance provided is based on Radiocentre’s understanding of how the BCAP Code rules on misleadingness should be interpreted, developed over the last 25 years. However, advertisers should understand that only the ASA Council can determine the correct interpretation of the Code, as set in their published complaint adjudications.
Last updated 06 March 2025