Nabbing errant advertisers or advertising agencies on unethical advertisements containing inaccurate information are best left to consumers because they bear the highest risk of being misled.

Affected consumers should lodge a complaint with the Advertising Standard Authority Malaysia (ASA), which addresses complaints pertaining to 'revealing' posters or misleading visuals, among others.

Another way is to register a complaint with the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry.

The significance of consumers playing a pro-active role is to ensure that ethical standards are met and maintained by advertisers and their advertising agencies.

Socially responsible

Universiti Malaya education faculty lecturer Assoc Prof Dr Chang Lee Hoon, who feels that advertising is part and parcel of consumers' daily life, believes that ethical concerns must be raised from the consumer's perspective.

In presenting a paper 'Advertising: A Consumer's Perspective' jointly with UM researcher Michael Heng at the recently concluded human rights conference in Kuala Lumpur, she argues that advertisers and advertising agencies are socially responsible for any information given to consumers.

"The main concern is on ethics of advertising, particularly leading to misinformation and disinformation.

"Any information that tend to mislead would not benefit the consumers and society but instead infringes the rights of the consumers to accurate and clear information for their decision-making and action," she said at the conference organised by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia or Suhakam.

When contacted, ASA acting chairperson Juni Ewe said the number of complaints had increased from a total of 20 cases last year to a monthly average of 10 cases so far this year.

"We cannot penalise or fine the agencies or advertisers, but we can deny them the media space by issuing a notice to all parties concerned, including the media through the Malaysia Newspapers Publishers Association.

"If we rule that an advertisement is incomplete, the advertiser is required to pull it out immediately."

However, she said, enforcing the ruling was easier among newspapers compared to magazines because of the peer pressure within the industry.

ASA's authority is based on the Malaysian Code of Advertising Practice, which was formulated in 1976. It was updated once in 1990 and is in the middle of another revision.

Four-point compliance

"We require advertisements to be honest, truthful, legal and decent. Since the last one is usually controversial due to its subjective nature, we choose the most conservative in line with our country's multi-cultural and multi-racial composition.

"The legal requirement is quite straightforward. So are the other two, where if you cannot substantiate the claims made, then you will definitely be in trouble," said Ewe.

About three months ago, she was told by the domestic trade and consumer affairs department that there was no serious breach of the code.

Advertising agencies are also bound by the ethical code adopted by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents (The 4As). The association has 65 members from about 100 local and multinational advertising agencies in the country.

It publishes handbooks on 'Industry Guidelines' and 'Recommended Best Practices'. It also required advertising agencies to comply with the 'Standards of Practice and Ethical Conduct' upon becoming members.

The association's code states: "... unethical competitive practices in the advertising agency business lead to financial waste, dilution of service, diversion of manpower, loss of prestige, and tend to weaken public confidence both in advertisements and in the institution of advertising."

It further provides that "clear and willful violations" may be referred to the 4As Council for appropriate action under its constitution, including possible annulment of membership.

Officials of the 4As were unavailable for comments.