Blog,
Legal notices and commercials: let’s take stock
29 November 2021
We have been members of the Digital Media Club for nearly 3 years now, which brings together professionals in screen-based communication.
Through the club we have access to a legal consultation describing the recommendations and the mandatory legal mentions related to digital signage.
Curious to know more?
We answer many questions below.
What legal information must be included in DOOH commercials? In what context does this apply?
Decrypting.
Digital signage, or DOOH (Digital Out Of Home), is often considered as advertising. And like any advertising spot, the messages appearing on it must therefore be regulated.
The 3 essential points to know :
1. The DOOH is generally subject to the general law
Here are some examples of illustrations:
Advertising for a
a medicine
The medium must always mention the message of caution and referral to a doctor
“(…) Advertising to the public for a medicine must necessarily be accompanied by a message of caution and a reference to consulting a doctor if symptoms persist”.
Article L. 5122-6 of the Public Health Code (CSP)
Advertising for alcoholic beverages
The support must always be accompanied by a health message specifying that alcohol abuse is dangerous to health
“All advertising for alcoholic beverages, with the exception of commercial circulars intended for persons acting in a professional capacity or sent by name, as well as posters, price lists, menus or objects inside specialized sales outlets, must be accompanied by a health message specifying that alcohol abuse is dangerous to health.”
Article L. 3323-4 of the CSP
La publicité pour un crédit à la consommation
Le support doit mentionner le caractère engageant d’un tel crédit.
“All advertising, with the exception of broadcast advertising, contains the following statement, regardless of the medium used: “A loan commits you and must be repaid. Check your ability to repay before committing yourself”.
Article L. 312-5 of the Consumer Code
There are therefore many examples of advertisements subject to legal mentions, whatever the medium of distribution.
2. THE REQUIREMENT OF CERTAIN LEGAL NOTICES SUBJECT TO INTERPRETATION
The obligation to respect certain information is more open to discussion. Indeed, if we take the example of an advertisement on consumer credit, Article L. 312-8 of the Consumer Code states:
“In all written advertising, regardless of the medium used, the information relating to the annual percentage rate of charge, its fixed, variable or revisable nature, the total amount owed by the borrower and the amount of the instalments, as well as the statement referred to in Article L. 312-5, shall appear in a larger font size than that used to indicate any other information relating to the characteristics of the financing, in particular the promotional rate, and shall be included in the main body of the advertisement.”
It would seem, therefore, subject to judicial interpretation of these provisions, that this section could apply to some DOOH advertisements (those “in print”) and not to others.
3. Need to analyze the requirement for legal notices on a case-by-case basis
In order to remain in order with the various legal mentions being able to apply to your publicity and especially to make sure to respect the requests, it is possible to consult the site of the authority of professional regulation of publicity: ARPP.
The latter is an interesting source of information, to be consulted on a case by case basis.
How to proceed?
1. Go to the ARPP website
2. Log in to your account (or register for free)
3. Click on the “ARPP Code” tab
4. Under the tab, on the right, you will find a banner containing the legal rules (ethical rules in graphic animation)
5. All you have to do is find the product or service concerned. These rules are classified by type of product or service.
It can be an interesting source to look for the possible applicable legal mentions, while remembering that the ARPP is an association and that the information mentioned on its site may not be totally exhaustive and/or up to date.
Ultimately, the existence and applicability of legal notices to DOOH media must be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
These mentions will often be identical to those required for other advertising media.
The ARPP website can therefore be a relevant source of initial information.
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