This was recently the case in Saarland: according to an ordinance issued by the Saarland state government, an advertising ban was temporarily in place from the end of February to the beginning of March for goods that are not part of daily needs or basic supplies. The reason for this was not to ban the sale of goods, but to avoid contacts in the retail sector due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Higher Administrative Court of Saarland temporarily suspended the advertising ban on 10 March.
This ban makes one thing clear above all: how effective retail advertising is. This is also proven by our joint study with the IFH Cologne - around 87% of the population read leaflet advertising at least occasionally, 75% even weekly. The article "Werbeverbote sorgen für Zündstoff" in the Lebensmittel Zeitung (LZ 10-21, 12.03.2021, p.52) also provides an interesting insight into the topic.
Advertising is essential for retailers, especially in challenging times. Political intervention is therefore increasingly perceived as intrusive and is causing resentment. The efforts of the organisation "Deutsche Umwelthilfe " and the "Letzte Werbung" initiative also represent an encroachment on the free choice of advertising options. The aim of the petition submitted to the Federal Ministry of Justice in December 2020 is to introduce an "opt-in" system for leaflet advertising. Anyone wishing to receive advertising leaflets would then have to expressly communicate their consent to this via a sticker on their letterbox. In addition, Deutsche Umwelthilfe is calling for a penalty tax of €0.20 to be levied on every printed advertising leaflet. The costs should be borne by the retail companies as clients. As a solution, retailers should increasingly rely on digital information options.
The consequences for retailers would be drastic: the reach of the key medium of leaflets would be significantly and incalculably reduced. In addition, the implementation would threaten the business basis of advertising journals - for them, the advertising leaflet inserted in the advertising journal is an important source of income and secures the financing of free editorial work.
MEDIA Central is monitoring political developments very closely and is in dialogue with industry-related associations such as the Bundesverband kostenloser Wochenzeitungen (BVDA), the Zentralverband der deutschen Werbewirtschaft (ZAW), the Bundesverband Druck und Medien (bvdm) and the Handelsverband Deutschland (HDE) - with the aim of enabling safe and sustainable shopping, but also to support retailers and publishers, especially in these difficult economic times.
In view of the above examples, it is more important than ever to voice demands in order to protect the interests of retailers and entrepreneurial freedom. The umbrella organisation BVDA, among others, is committed to this and is adapting the demands in position papers for the 2021 federal elections. This can only be done together - we appeal to the representatives of the retail sector to also get involved at a political level and support the joint demands.