The Hungarian Advertising Code of Ethics has been renewed
2023. November 10.The Codification Committee of the Self-Regulatory Advertising Board (ÖRT) and the Hungarian Advertising Association (MRSZ) updated the Hungarian Advertising Code of Ethics (“Code”) following extensive professional consultation with the adoption of 24 professional organisations. The new Code, which entered into force on 30 June 2023, replaced the collection of codes of conduct in force since 2015, updating and bringing them into conformity with international self-regulatory standards.
In the interests of better understandability, the scope of the Code has been clarified, the prohibitions on misleading advertising practices have been extended, new articles have been added and some articles have been merged. Hereby we summarise the changes that are of the most interest to our Clients:
1. Rules on advertising of cosmetics (16. Article)
Rules on statements of fact relating to cosmetic products have been clarified, according to which advertising claims may be substantiated by means of measured tests, and the statements of fact relating to advertisements shall be made in accordance with the available evidence. If the advertiser uses an Influencer in the advertising campaign, the Influencer opinion cannot be used as evidence of the effectiveness of the product. The opinions of celebrities, influencers, individuals and consumers may be used if they are expressed as a personal opinion or impression of the product.
2. Rules on advertising of food (17. Article)
The rules concerning claims relating to health have been clarified, i.e. any claim relating to health must be approved and included in the list of permitted claims. An on-hold claim can only be used if the advertiser has scientific data to support the claim. The use of a pending claim must be discontinued immediately after its rejection or, if the rejection is made by legislation, as provided for in the legislation applicable to the rejection.
3. Advertising with influencers (27. Article)
In view of the popularity of Influencer marketing among advertisers today, a new chapter on advertising in the digital space has been added to the Code to regulate Influencer advertising in line with the new consolidated Information Notice on Influencer Marketing in 2022 of the Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH).
4. Individually targeted unsolicited digital advertising (28. Article)
As part of the revised article on digital advertising, rules on individually targeted unsolicited digital advertising have been added in line with data protection requirements.