Voxly VisionThe 23 UK advertising regulations and industry codes Voxly Vision checks your ads against, each with a recent ruling so you can see how the rules get enforced in real life.
The rules every UK ad has to follow, whatever you sell.
UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct and Promotional Marketing
The main rulebook for non-broadcast ads in the UK: social, influencer, search, websites, print, posters, email and sales promotions. Written by CAP, enforced by the ASA.
Two social posts from the health app's co-founder implied its blood tests could help prevent or diagnose conditions like type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's, and give sharper advice than standard health guidance. No evidence to back either claim.
UK Code of Broadcast Advertising
The rulebook for TV and radio ads. Most ads are pre-cleared by Clearcast or Radiocentre, but the ASA can still ban them once they've aired.
Two TV ads sold a low-cost "funeral plan" without making clear it was a cremation with no service and no one attending. Clearcast had cleared them, but the ASA still banned them.
Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act: unfair commercial practices
The UK's main consumer protection law for ads and selling. Bans misleading claims, drip pricing and fake reviews, and lets the CMA fine firms up to 10% of global turnover without going to court.
A mandatory £3 booking fee was left out of the headline lesson price shown to more than 80,000 learners. The CMA's first fine under its new powers, plus £760k in refunds.
Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations
Bans misleading business-to-business ads and sets the conditions for any ad that compares you with a competitor. Mirrored in the CAP and BCAP comparison rules.
TV and YouTube ads implied selling to We Buy Any Car was quicker and more certain than other car buying sites. Rivals Motorway and Carwow complained: no comparative evidence, and no way to check it.
The industry's own code on top of the ASA rules, covering names, labels, packs and promotions.
Naming, Packaging and Promotion of Alcoholic Drinks (6th edition)
The alcohol industry's rulebook for drink names, labels, packaging, sponsorship and promotions. Ignore a ruling and retailers get asked to stop stocking you.
All seven schnapps flavours broke the code. A cartoon cactus, thick keylines, bright colours and sweet flavours added up to particular appeal to under-18s, and "shoot it straight" encouraged downing it in one.
Some of the strictest ad rules in the UK, and about to get stricter.
Tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship
Makes it a criminal offence to publish or distribute tobacco ads in the UK, online included. Narrow exceptions cover things like product info on a retailer's own site.
The new Act rewrote the definition of a tobacco product to cover anything made wholly or partly of tobacco, whether it's smoked, sniffed, sucked or chewed.
E-cigarette advertising restrictions
Bans ads for nicotine vapes that aren't licensed medicines online, in the press and on-demand. Mirrored in CAP rule 22.12, so most cases land with the ASA.
A paid Google ad showing nicotine vape pods was placed by a third-party aggregator, not the retailer. The ASA still held the retailer responsible for the ad.
Smokefree generation and nicotine ad ban
Brings in a full ban on advertising and sponsorship for vapes, nicotine pouches and other nicotine products, online and offline, closing the gaps in today's rules.
The Act became law in April 2026. The ad and sponsorship ban is set to start on 1 June 2027, with a defence for public health campaigns.
Licensing law plus industry codes, enforced by the Gambling Commission and the ASA.
Part 16: advertising provisions
Makes it a criminal offence to advertise unlawful gambling in Great Britain, including operators that take British customers without a licence.
An unlicensed WhatsApp bookie admitted advertising unlawful gambling and providing it without a licence. Suspended jail sentence, £230k compensation and £60k costs.
Point-of-consumption licensing
Anyone offering gambling to customers in Great Britain needs a Gambling Commission licence, wherever they're based. Advertising gambling that isn't licensed here is unlawful.
The government proposed banning operators without a Gambling Commission licence from any sponsorship or advertising deal in Great Britain, including shirt deals in sport. The consultation closed on 9 September.
Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice, SR codes 5.1.6 to 5.1.9
Licence conditions that make every operator follow the CAP and BCAP codes, get consent before direct marketing and keep bonus terms fair. Breaking the ad codes puts the licence in play.
TV, radio and on-demand ads stacked up everyday frustrations, then offered the betting app as the fix, implying gambling was an escape from problems. 125 complaints.
For Socially Responsible Advertising
The industry's own rules on top of the ad codes: 25+ targeting on social media, prominent safer gambling messages, and nobody who looks under 25 in the ads.
An AI-generated man pushing a World Cup bet offer looked under 25. Midnite and its affiliate were told to keep anyone who seems under 25 out of gambling ads.
Health claims, medicines and weight-loss ads, where the MHRA and the ASA work hand in hand.
GB Nutrition and Health Claims Register
Food and supplement ads can only use health and nutrition claims listed on the GB register, worded so they don't go beyond what's authorised.
Instagram and YouTube ads with the founder and Spencer Matthews encouraged living on Huel alone and linked it to ultramarathon endurance, a health claim that isn't on the register.
Advertising and promoting medicines in the UK
The MHRA's rulebook for medicine ads: no promoting unlicensed products, no prescription-only medicines to the public, and claims must match the licence.
Meta ads and a pre-order pop-up pushed the Wegovy tablet before it was licensed and promoted Wegovy and Mounjaro to the public. The ASA leaned on the Blue Guide's rules for landing pages.
Part 14: advertising to the public
The law behind the ban on advertising prescription-only medicines to the public, plus what over-the-counter medicine ads must and mustn't say.
A Facebook ad promising to quiet food noise and cravings led into a journey naming Mounjaro and Wegovy, promoting prescription-only weight-loss jabs to the public.
FCA rules for anything that promotes money, credit, insurance, investments or crypto.
The financial promotion restriction
Only FCA-authorised firms can promote financial products, or have promotions approved by one. Doing it without that is a criminal offence, influencers included.
Seven influencers with 4.5 million combined followers pleaded guilty to promoting an unauthorised forex trading scheme. Fines, discharges and costs at Southwark Crown Court.
PRIN 2A.5: consumer understanding
Firms must communicate so customers genuinely understand products and can make good decisions, judged on outcomes rather than ticked disclosure boxes.
Three years in, the FCA has opened 11 Consumer Duty investigations across insurance, pensions, investments and claims firms, and intervened 382 times in the past year.
Banking: communications and financial promotions
How banks and building societies promote and talk about current and savings accounts, including telling customers clearly about rates and changes.
Banks sent over 100 million savings messages in 2023, but generic mass mailings mostly didn't work. Many failed to explain the customer's current rate or the benefit of switching.
Consumer credit financial promotions
Rules for loan, credit card, car finance and now BNPL ads: representative APR, risk warnings, and promotions that are clear, fair and not misleading.
The FCA is consulting on swapping much of CONC 3's detailed rules for Consumer Duty standards. Buy now pay later also came under FCA rules from 15 July 2026.
Mortgage financial promotions
Rules for mortgage and equity release ads, including risk warnings, representative examples and balanced claims about cost.
After reviewing equity release and later-life lenders, the FCA got almost 400 misleading promotions taken down or changed and pushed the biggest firms to fix their advice.
Insurance communications and promotions
Insurers and brokers must keep communications and promotions clear, fair and not misleading, so customers understand the cover, exclusions and price.
In late 2024, FCA action got 3,697 promotions amended or withdrawn across 78 firms. Insurance and protection made up 6% of that workload, ahead of retail banking.
COBS 4.12A: qualifying cryptoassets
Crypto ads to UK consumers need FCA authorisation or approval, prominent risk warnings and a 24-hour cooling-off period for first-time investors.
The FCA started legal proceedings against the exchange over illegal crypto promotions on its site and social media, and asked app stores and platforms to block it for UK users.
Investment financial promotions
Rules for investment and trading ads: fair, clear and not misleading, balanced risk warnings, and limits on mass-marketing high-risk investments.
Some firms approving promotions for others signed off unsupported claims, let professional-only promotions reach retail investors and leaned on third-party templates.