list of contributors - GALA
list of contributors - GALA
list of contributors - GALA
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ITALY<br />
Maria Luisa Cassandro & Felix H<strong>of</strong>er<br />
H<strong>of</strong>er Lösch Torricelli<br />
mlcassandro@hltlaw.it<br />
fh<strong>of</strong>er@hltlaw.it<br />
www.hltlaw.it<br />
1. Legislation<br />
Topic: Misleading advertising - tougher sanctions<br />
When: Coming up – currently in Parliament (March 2005)<br />
Where: Italy<br />
What Happened: The Italian Parliament is currently discussing a bill, meant to amend the<br />
existing law on misleading advertising (Law by Decree no. 74 <strong>of</strong> January 25 th ,<br />
1992).<br />
The new provisions aim at preventing, in a more effective way, incorrect<br />
presentations <strong>of</strong> products or services in home-shopping TV programs or in<br />
Internet <strong>of</strong>fers.<br />
While up till now the Market and Competition Commissioner (the domestic<br />
authority competent on supervising) had very limited powers at its disposal<br />
to react to misleading or incorrect comparative advertising (basically it could<br />
issue a desist order), the new provision would also allow to deliver an<br />
injunction for corrective messages and to apply fines from 1.000 to 100.000<br />
Euro.<br />
The fine’s amount would depend on the harm caused by the misleading<br />
promotional message. Elements to be considered to that purpose would be:<br />
the diffusion <strong>of</strong> the message, its misleading potential and effects on health or<br />
security and on children. When negative effects on health or security or on<br />
children are involved, the fine’s minimum amount could not be less than<br />
25.000 Euro.<br />
Finally, in cases <strong>of</strong> non-compliance with a corrective injunction, the authority<br />
would be entitled to suspend the <strong>of</strong>fending company from doing business for<br />
a period up to 30 days.<br />
Comments: It’s not hard to predict that the new provisions will have some significant<br />
impact on the advertiser – agency relationship. Companies hit by fines or a<br />
business suspension order are likely to seek relief from agencies and<br />
advertising practitioners doing wrong in preparing promotional campaigns.<br />
2. Self-Regulation<br />
Topic: Religious sensitivity – <strong>of</strong>fensive advertising<br />
Who: Billboard and Press advertising <strong>of</strong> a French fashion house<br />
When: Winter 2004<br />
Where: Italy – France - UK<br />
What Happened: During last winter a French fashion house ran an advertising campaign,<br />
throughout Europe as well as in the US, for promoting its latest clothing<br />
collection. The campaign used billboards and press ads featuring a group <strong>of</strong><br />
models posing as shown below.
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