Advertising Policy

Advertising Policy

Effective Date: August 1989
Revised: December 2001, May 2002, September 2002

POLICY: 

The American Dietetic Association accepts commercial advertising for its periodicals, Web site, some special-purpose publications and other forms of communication. 


GUIDELINES:

  1. ADA reserves the right to review all proposed advertising copy and to refuse to accept any copy that does not conform to ADA policy or its philosophy.
  2. Statements in advertising copy should be ethical and carry no direct or implied disparagement of another product. There should be no statements that are misleading, exaggerated, open to misinterpretation, or contrary to accepted, proven facts.
  3. Advertisements shall comply with the laws and regulations of the United States and the State of Illinois.
  4. Acceptance of advertising does not represent an ADA endorsement of the advertiser, product or service.
  5. ADA shall take reasonable steps to ensure that the acceptance and placement of advertising does not undermine ADA’s reputation for scientific and editorial integrity.

PROCEDURES: 

  1. Advertising copy will be reviewed for acceptance by the ADA Knowledge Center, which may call upon other staff or member resources as deemed appropriate.
    1. The Knowledge Center reviews proposed advertising copy, graphics and layout to make sure that it conforms to ADA’s advertising policy and to any editorial guidelines and policies specific to the particular publication, medium or piece of communication in which the ad would appear.
    2. As appropriate and necessary, the Knowledge Center consults with other staff areas that may have special knowledge of relevant issues with regard to the proposed advertisement.  If there are significant differences of opinion with regard to the ad’s acceptability, the matter will be brought before the staff Executive Team and the CEO for resolution.
    3. The Knowledge Center may reject the advertisement, may require changes to the ad before approving it or may approve it as it is.
    4. For each ad that is approved, the Knowledge Center will specify whether there are limitations on its placement within the medium where it will appear.  Advertising may not be placed where the juxtaposition of advertising and editorial material may give the impression that ADA’s positions on professional or scientific matters have been developed in conjunction with the advertiser. 
  2. Statements of properties, performance, nutrient values, beneficial results, or other product claims should be such that they can be verified by adequate peer-reviewed, scientific data available in the literature or submitted from a reputable laboratory. 
  3. Nutrient and health claims should be consistent with Federal regulations governing food labeling and advertising.
  4. If the advertiser elects to include the nutritional value of a product, it should be stated per serving or per day as actual nutritional content, percent DRI (Daily Reference Intake) or percent daily value.
  5. Advertisements for special nutritional products and modified foods must include a list of ingredients and the quantitative nutritional analysis of the product or must offer to supply this information on request.
  6. Layout, artwork and format shall be such as to avoid possible confusion with editorial content.  The word “advertisement” may be required at the discretion of ADA.
  7. To be consistent with general ADA style, the spelling with a “t” (“dietitian”) should be used in all advertising copy rather than the “c” spelling (“dietician”).
  8. An advertiser may not misrepresent the advertising relationship with ADA as an endorsement by ADA.  Advertisers may not use their collateral marketing materials to publicize that their advertisements have appeared in an ADA publication or on the ADA Web site.
  9. ADA does not accept ads involving sweepstakes or prize drawings; and ads inviting readers to participate in a survey. (Added September 2004)
  10. DPGs shall follow ADA advertising procedures.

ADDITIONAL WEB SITE PROCEDURES:

  1. An advertisement on the ADA Web site may contain one or more embedded direct links to pages on the advertiser’s Web site. ADA reserves the right to review and approve the advertiser’s Web page that is directly linked.
  2. Wherever a direct link to a third party Web site is used, the following message should be placed in close proximity to the link: “ADA does not endorse the content, products or services on other Web sites.”
  3. ADA will not link directly to any Web page that prevents the user from a one-click return to the ADA Web site.
  4. The ADA logo may not appear on an advertiser’s Web site without prior written approval from ADA. However, advertisers may use links to send their Web site users to the ADA Web site for information.

SPECIAL PROCEDURES FOR THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION

  1. Advertising that relates to articles in a particular issue of the Journal should not be placed in proximity to those articles, either in the body of the Journal or next to the article summary in the Table of Contents or in any other way that would suggest preferential editorial treatment or allow readers to infer a connection between the advertising and a particular article.
  2. The Journal editorial staff is responsible for undertaking a final review of each issue’s advertising layout to ensure that the above provision is not violated.