As basic as it may seem, a legal review or clearance of proposed advertising or labelling is essential if advertisers and their ad agencies are to ensure that the advertising is in all respects legally compliant.

The well-known case in point is the 2001. Federal Court finding that forced major retailer Target to undertake humiliating corrective advertising for one of its sale ads on 88 television stations around the country.

As the Federal Court had previously pointed out in 1998: "In the advertising industry, advertising agents are 'gatekeepers' who have a responsibility to consider whether advertising material provided by them for their clients, complies with consumer protection legislation".

Our advertising clearance service is fast and cost-effective. We predominantly use email and other electronic forms of communication to review and advise our clients in respect of their advertising. This enables us to perform a large amount of advertising clearance work for our clients on a day to day basis and meet tight press and TV/Radio deadlines.

Our advertising clearance services include:

• Advising on all forms of product labelling, packaging & distribution
• Advising on particular products that attract high legal risk
• Advising on personality endorsement & testimonials
• Advising on required information & safety standards
• Assistance with the development and implementation of trade practices compliance programmes for both agencies and advertisers
• Dealing with the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) and State Fair Trading Departments
• Defamation and Slander
• Review of all forms of product placement
• Reviewing all forms of advertising for release upon all media including magazine, television, newspaper, Yellow Pages, radio, out door, cinema, Internet, mobile communications and other specialised and emerging/new media
• The offering of commercial and practical solutions and alternatives to advertising that may otherwise overstep legally acceptable boundaries
• The provision of commercially realistic clearance advice - achieving a balance between an advertiser's requirements, the ad agencies creativity and applicable laws and industry codes of practice
• Trade practices compliance

For further information on advertising clearance, contact our office on (02) 8221 0933 or email us on info@vmsolicitors.com.au