Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), the advertising regulatory body of Nigeria has issued a press release advising brand owners, digital bodies and secondary digital owners such as bloggers, skit makers, comedians, influencers, vloggers to obtain pre-approval of all advertisements or else face sanctions.
ARCON through its director-general, Olalekan Fadolapo, in the statement said that ARCON had received complaints saying some of the advertisements were not only unethical with unverified claims and misinformation, but also in violation of the Nigerian Code of Advertising Practice
Here are some excepts from the press release:
“The Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) has received complaints on the advertisements, advertising, and marketing communications activities of skit makers, comedians, influencers, content creators/producers, bloggers, vloggers, etc on digital/online media platforms,” the statement reads in part. “Most of the advertisements exposed by this group are not only unethical with unverified claims and misinformation, but also in violation of the Nigerian Code of Advertising Practice.”
“By this public notice, brand owners, digital agencies, secondary digital media space owners (i.e. bloggers, vloggers, influencers, comedians, skit makers, etc] and other advertising stakeholders in the digital/online media space are advised to obtain pre-exposure approval of all advertisements, advertising and marketing communications in accordance with the Nigerian Code of Advertising Practice and the ARCON Act No. 23 of 2022. ARCON will take all necessary actions including sanctions and prosecution of violators of the provisions of the Act to ensure compliance.”
ARCON ends the statement by saying it will take all necessary actions including sanctions and prosecution of violators of the provisions of the act to ensure compliance.
As much as I agree that this is the regulatory body’s way of arresting “misinformation”, it might be an uphill task to enforce this among the bloggers, skitmakers, comedians.
