The “Regulation Amending the Regulation on the Advertising Council” came into effect after being published in the Official Gazette dated 22.11.2023 and numbered 32377. With the new policies, member organizations in the Advertising Council and their areas and numbers were redefined.
Parallel to the amendment, the fifth meeting of the Advertising Council was held on 13 December 2023. The meeting dubbed “New Developments in the Field of Advertising” may indicate the agenda of the Advertising Board in 2024 as well as the issues that might be the focus of scrutiny in advertising.
The meeting addressed a wide range of issues in digital and traditional advertising practices, and the members decided to establish working groups for “Influencer”, “Individuals with Disabilities” and “Media Measurement”. Members of the council also discussed the “Influencer Certificate Program Project”, which aims to provide the consumers as much protection in the digital world as they receive in the classical advertising channels. The project is a joint initiative of the Advertising Self-Regulatory Board and the Advertising Board. Within the framework of bolstering inclusion and providing equal access and opportunities to all individuals, the council members decided to make more efforts to boost the representation of disabled people in advertisements. The meeting also addressed the feasibility of gathering all media measurements under a single roof. Media measurements typically refer to various metrics and analytics employed to assess the performance, reach, and impact of media content.
Finally, the council members had a comprehensive analysis of deceptive commercial practices called “Dark Commercial Designs”, which aim at manipulating consumers’ choices.
In 2024, considering the current practices and their impact on society, it is expected that advertising regulators in Türkiye will prioritize the scrutiny of surreptitious advertisements and try to prevent such malpractices.
In addition, since the public’s awareness about the detrimental impact of the climate crisis has led to efforts by companies to enhance sustainability in their products and services, it is expected that in 2024, more advertisements containing environmental claims will be published, necessitating more measures to prevent or tackle them.
Needless to say, in 2024, the Advertising Board will have to deal with a lot more matters than those discussed in these meetings. However, considering the prevalence of issues related to advertising in the digital world, the Board is expected to intensify its efforts to scrutinize and address the issues in this ever-changing space.
