Quite often in complaints and the Advisory Service the breaches we see can be inadvertent or the result of a cumulative impact of elements rather than one sole element that is problematic and can be remedied with small amends. However, every now and then, a case comes along which represents a clear-cut breach of the Code. Under today’s complaint process, if a complaint is considered a clear-cut breach of the Code the Chair of the Independent Complaints Panel can advise the Code Secretariat to offer the possibility of Informal Resolution. The Informal Resolution route could be considered appropriate by the Chair where a case represents a clear-cut breach of the Code, is not precedent setting for the industry and the producer agrees to make changes to the product with the Advisory Service.
Prior to the introduction of Informal Resolution (or Fast Track as it was previously known), all clear-cut breaches had to be considered by the Panel for a formal ruling. In 2007, the Portman Group received a complaint from Buckinghamshire Trading Standards about a product called Rubbel Sexy Lager. The product label featured a young woman wearing a swimsuit. The swimsuit, however, could be scratched off by the consumer to reveal the woman entirely naked. The Panel considered that both this feature and the product’s brand name, Rubbel Sexy Lager, created an association with sexual success and found the product in breach of the Code. While there isn’t much to say about this breach as it is fairly self-explanatory, the case remains a memorable example of how self-regulatory standards evolve in-step with social standards and raise the bar of what is acceptable for the entire industry.