Marketing Matters | Review of October 2025

Welcome to this month's edition of Marketing Matters, where we look at advertising and marketing (A&M) trends in the retail and consumer sector.

We will be looking at:

• Some of the key takeaways for A&M departments following October's ASA rulings.
• Other top ASA stories.
• CMA news for the same period.

ASA rulings – key takeaways for your A&M departments

In October, the ASA handed down 19 rulings (approximately half as many as in July and August). We have highlighted some of the key rulings we think you and your A&M departments should be aware of.

Limited-time offers

The takeaway here is that the terms of time-limited offers must be clear to consumers and that the offer must be genuinely limited to the stated time period. Failing to meet these requirements is likely to result in the ASA determining that the time limit puts undue pressure on consumers to make a rushed purchase, resulting in the advert being banned.

Two rulings in October related to offers misleadingly presented as being time-limited.

Firstly, a furniture company was challenged over a misleading countdown clock relating to a limited-time discount. The clock appeared in a banner at the top of the website, following the words "Up to 40% off selected finishes + an extra 5% offer ends in…". In reality, only the 5% discount ended when the timer expired with the 40% discount ending a week later, which the ASA found was misleading.

Secondly, a post by a business coach suggested that potential customers could review some of their coaching course's content for free, but that this offer would only last for 48 hours from the time of the social media post containing the offer. However, the content remained free after this period, and the ASA therefore found the post to be misleading.   

Marketing to children

There were two new rulings relating to gambling adverts in October, along with a republished ruling from October 2023.

In two cases, the advert took the form of a social media post – one featuring a football-related podcast clip including a well-known former footballer, the other linking to an article on the gambling company's website discussing an upcoming motorsport event and prominently featuring a photograph of a well-known racing driver. The third advert appeared before videos on YouTube, and featured the badge of a Premier League football team. In all three cases, the ASA decided that the adverts would be of strong appeal to children and young persons in breach of CAP Code 16.3.12.

Though these rulings relate to gambling in particular, any company promoting a product where marketing to children is restricted by the CAP Code (e.g. food, medicine, etc.) must be careful when using social media. These rulings reinforce that social media posts can be considered "adverts" for the purposes of the Code even where they do not directly promote the company's business. The ASA was also clear that advertisers cannot rely on third party filtering tools (e.g. the fact that X does not promote gambling adverts to profiles belonging to under-18s) to claim that children would not see the adverts.

Greenwashing complaint not upheld

'Greenwashing' (where a company makes misleading claims about their environmental impact as part of their marketing) is a hot-button issue for the ASA at the moment, and one that they are cracking down on. However, businesses should not be discouraged from publicising the green elements of their work. References to specific projects or case studies which promote a business' green credentials are unlikely to amount to greenwashing or misleading marketing under the CAP Code, even where the business' overall environmental record is mixed.

The ASA declined to uphold a complaint about an advert from a global energy and oil company. The advert outlined a case study involving the energy company's work with another company on decarbonising the other company's operations. The rejected complaint argued that the advert misrepresented the energy company's overall environmental credentials, but the ASA found that the advert did not make any such claims and related only to the case study.  

Key takeaways

• Be clear when promoting limited-time offers – how would a customer interpret the advert?
• Be careful when advertising age-restricted products or services via social media.
• Don't be afraid to promote your green credentials with case studies and examples.

Top ASA stories last month

Black Friday Sales

With Black Friday and Cyber Monday just around the corner, advertisers should keep in mind vulnerable consumers and ensure their ads are clear and responsible during the sales event in November.

In 2024, the ASA upheld numerous complaints on advertisements for credit cards and loans that encouraged consumers to spend more than they could afford on Black Friday sales, which they concluded was irresponsible. For example, one advert for a short-term loan made light of the consequences of borrowing by using statements like "Grab what you want now, pay it off with ease!" alongside a video featuring a woman applying for the loan on the app and having money appear in her other hand.

The CAP has also released some guidance ahead of Black Friday to ensure adverts with promotional claims are compliant:

• Any savings claims e.g. "save £50" must be accurate, genuine and should compare the saving with the most recent price available.
• Any price comparisons should be backed up such as with historical pricing records.
• Where claims such as "up to X% off" are used, the ASA will expect a significant proportion of items included in the sale to be discounted by X%.
• Promotional offers should not generally be extended beyond their closing dates.

Utilising AI to check alcohol advertisement compliance

The ASA recently published the results of a trial which used artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor alcohol advertisement compliance. Analysing around 6000 paid-for ads shown to the UK public in early 2025 – spanning alcoholic drinks, alcohol-free alternatives and related promotions – the AI-based Advice Ad Monitoring System found that the overwhelming majority of alcohol advertisers (96%) were complying with alcohol specific advertising rules. Whilst the ASA have employed AI since 2023 to assist with monitoring online advertisements, this trial marks a major milestone in how innovative technologies can be effectively used to ensure regulatory-compliance and responsible advertising.

Recent CMA activity

Addressing anti-competitive conduct by housebuilders

The CMA recently published their final decision in October 2025 to accept binding commitments from seven housing developers, following an investigation into suspected exchanges of competitively sensitive information which was launched in February 2024.

The investigation was based on CMA concerns that, between January 2022 and February 2024, the seven housebuilders frequently shared the following types of information with each other and certain other housebuilders:

• The prices at which they had agreed sales of reserved or sold properties.
• The incentives they had given to buyers of reserved or sold properties.
• The fact that particular properties had been reserved, sold, cancelled, exchanged and/or legally completed.
• The number of visitors, characteristics of those visitors and the extent of interest among visitors they had received ad housing developments.
• The number of properties that had been reserved, sold, cancelled, exchanged and/or legally completed at housing developments.

Under the final commitments, the seven housebuilders agree the following:

• Not to share certain types of information with other housebuilders, except in limited circumstances.
• To introduce enhanced compliance measures and training programmes.
• To use their best efforts to engage with and support the Home Builders Federation and Homes for Scotland to develop industry-wide guidance for the housebuilding sector in relation to information exchange.
• To make a combined payment of £100 million to the UK government, which will be used to fund affordable housing programmes across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Formal acceptance of the above commitments by the CMA has now brought the investigation to an end.