Parliament's Committee on Freedom of Speech has invited advertising experts to prepare amendments to the 1996 law on advertising and plans to submit them for debate at a Verkhovna Rada session after mid-March.
Changes have already been proposed to most of the old law's provisions, ranging from a new definition of what an advertisement is to allowing tobacco ads to be aired on television.
'In 1996, the domestic ad industry was in its embryonic stage, and many people did not have a clear idea of what advertising is all about,' said Iryna Kuznetsova, manager at the ad agency Dialla. 'Over the past four years the ad industry has seen a lot of changes, which should be reflected in the legislature,' said Kuznetsova, who is on the panel preparing amendments to the advertising law.
Proposals to lift the current ban on advertising tobacco products on TV and radio is likely to become one of major bones of contention during debate of the new legislation.
Lawmaker Oleksandr Zinchenko, also the honorary president of the Inter TV channel, proposed that tobacco ads be aired in nighttime from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Amendments from several other lawmakers propose to leave tobacco ads outside TV and even ban outdoor advertising for cigarettes, which is presently allowed.
The controversial issue of tobacco ads already has prevented parliament from approving a law on advertising last December. The debate on the bill was postponed largely due to disagreements over provisions dealing with advertising of tobacco and alcohol products.
The language of the ads – whether Russian or Ukrainian – is expected to become another controversial issue in the new bill. While advertising agencies want flexibility in using different languages, some lawmakers insist on mandatory use of Ukrainian in ads.
The drafting of amendments is expected to be completed by mid-March. If changes are proposed to at least 40 percent of the old law's articles, the parliamentary Committee on Freedom of Speech may submit the amendments for debate in the form of a new bill on advertising, committee officials said.
However, it is not clear when exactly the bill will be put up for debate.
But representatives of ad agencies hope that the new legislation would be more suited to the needs of the industry now that parliament has decided to ask advertising experts to help write the amendments.
'This time a lot more ad industry insiders became members of the working group,' Kuznetsova said. 'They can determine areas that need improvement better than outsiders.'
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Instead of complaining about the abundance of Western-style advertisements in Russia, the organizers of the first international festival Golden Bolt in Ekaterinburg decided to display the peculiarities of national advertising on March 1-2. The originality of the idea and the presence of national spirit were two main criteria for evaluating creative works. For more info, visit the Web site http://www.goldbolt.sky-net.ru
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The Kyiv-based ad agency Ark Thompson earned a Finalists Certificate in the 12th Annual John Caples International Awards for its entry 'Speed,' created for one of its biggest clients, Golden Telecom.
Finalists Certificates were awarded to 130 of the 1,300 competition entries.
Founded in 1978, the John Caples International Awards are intended to highlight excellence in the creative solution of direct marketing problems. For more info, visit the Web site http://www.caples.org.
Olena Nikolayenko can be reached at [email protected].
