Overseeing product labels and packaging

Product labels and packaging are in principle considered separately from advertising messages. This is because they are usually descriptive rather than promotional in nature.

In practice however, the information contained on product labels and packaging may include certain claims of a commercial nature which make them akin to a form of advertising.

As a result, advertising self-regulatory organizations (SROs) in some markets are competent to address issues around product labels and packaging, at least to a certain extent.

Among the sixteen respondents to the ICAS survey, all SROs except three (in Australia, Canada and France) handle complaints about product labels and packaging, at least in certain cases.

Where packaging and labeling are excluded from the scope of SRO activities, this is typically because they are subject to specific legislation. When SROs oversee product labels and packaging, this is often restricted to commercial claims included on product labels and packaging.

Find out more by downloading the ICAS paper on the oversight of product labels and packaging.

You may also be interested to find out more about SRO’s remit in relation to non-commercial ads.