More social advertising needed
By Nigar Orujova
Azerbaijan may increase the volume of public service advertising in the broadcast media.
The issue was mulled at the first meeting of the spring session of the parliament.
Ogtay Asadov, Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament said the amount of social advertising is relatively low on Azerbaijani television and radio channels.
During discussions on the new draft law "On Advertisement", the speaker noted the importance of increasing the volume of social advertising for educational purposes.
Social advertising is one of the best ways to raise awareness and change public attitudes. The earliest public service announcements were made before and during the Second World War in both the UK and the US.
The most prominent examples of such advertising are campaigns against drugs, promotion of healthy lifestyles, observance of traffic rules, environmental protection, etc.
MP Siyavush Novruzov, in turn, said social advertising on television and radio is broadcasting at night, because day price of the advertising is quite high. It is preferable to allocate some specific time for social advertising, he added.
Social advertising should be free, MP Azay Guliyev suggested.
MP Ali Masimli considers it appropriate to distribute public service announcements on television and radio not at night, but at a time when the most parts of population are watching TV.
The session also discussed other issues connected with the draft law, as the document provides a number of prohibitions and new rules related to the advertising of alcoholic beverages, medical services for abortion, medicine, military weapons, military, ad on teaching aids, and outdoor advertising.
MP Gudrat Hasanguliyev stressed the need to ban advertising of gambling. The bill was passed by a vote.
The new rules for outdoor advertisement prohibit placement of advertising of betting and lotteries closer than 100 meters from the children's and educational, health care institutions.
In addition, outdoor advertising of biologically active substances, food additives, artificial feeding for infants and young children is also prohibited.
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Nigar Orujova is AzerNews’s staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @o_nigar
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