The Paris-based International Chamber of
Commerce
said that rules governing advertising and marketing over the Internet
have been endorsed by more than 50 companies, including Dun & Bradstreet and
Leo Burnett Co.
The ICC guidelines include rules on data privacy, advertising to children and
the full disclosure of costs associated with electronic sales.
“Advertising and marketing on the Internet, World Wide Web and online
services should reflect the highest standards of ethical conduct,” Bloomberg News quoted the ICC as saying.
“Responsible advertisers should recognize that it is in their own interest to
observe self-disciplinary guidelines.”
The guidelines were developed by an ICC commission composed of marketing and
advertising specialists from 50 companies around the world. The ICC has about
7,000 member companies from 137 countries.
The ICC principles also call for advertising to be “legal, decent, honest and
truthful” and sensitive to the possibility that messages could be interpreted
as violent, racist, sexist or pornographic by different cultures around the
world.