The Department for Media, Culture and Sport has announced deregulation of cinema advertising, cutting the requirement for ad approval from the British Board of Film Classification.
Cinema ads will still have to meet the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (CAP Code) and the news was welcomed by the Advertising Association (AA).
AA director of public affair, Sue Eustace, commented: "The Advertising Pays report showed how central our industries are to UK growth. Deregulation is an important part of allowing that economic contribution to flourish and it's good to see government listening and taking action."
The news comes after a long-standing battle between the industry and government to loosen rules on cinema advertising and on the back of figures which show the industry regaining strength after dipping during the financial crisis, with UK advertising breaking through £17bn for the first time since 2007 and cinema advertising up 26 per cent in 2012 to £213m.
Cinema ad via Shutterstock