ABC orders Sledgehammer to remove logo

Malaysia – The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) Malaysia recently has instructed Sledgehammer Communications to remove the ABC logo from its as yet un-audited title Marketing.

ABC chairman Peter Das when contacted by marketing-interactive.com, said the bureau was stringent with its regulations for a publication to become a member before it is allowed to print the logo which signifies a magazine is audited by the body.

“According to the rules, the publication has to be in the Malaysian market for at least three months, and its figures audited before it can apply to become a member and only when it is approved, it can be allowed to print the logo,” Das said.

Sledgehammer's Marketing bore the logo in its first and second edition.

“When we saw it in the first edition, we instructed Sledgehammer Communication to remove it but the company had already printed its second edition,” he said, while affirming Sledgehammer Communication’s Adoi! as a member.

When contacted, Harmandar Singh, regional chief executive officer, Sledgehammer Communications said: “It was an oversight on our part and when it was pointed out by the chairman, we took it out.”

Das also said Marketing was not the first publication to breach the regulation but the ABC always had an eye out for publications in the market to ensure that the rules are adhered to.

Disclosure: Sledgehammer's Marketing magazine competes with magazines and websites owned by Lighthouse Independent Media Sdn Bhd, owners of marketing-interactive.com