Cinema Advertising Association (CAA)
In practice, for a UK buyer
The paragraph above is the neutral answer. This is the part a vendor glossary leaves out.
The age rating is a media constraint as much as a creative one: copy containing strong language restricts pairing to 15 and 18 certificate films, which changes the audience you can reach. That is worth knowing at the scripting stage rather than after production, which is why the pre-check flags it there.
What this one connects to
Most confusion in media buying comes from two adjacent terms being used interchangeably, so these are the neighbours worth reading next.
Clearcast
The body that pre-approves television advertising in the UK on behalf of the major broadcasters, checking copy against the broadcast advertising code before it can air. Approval is required, not advisory.
Cinema advertising
Advertising shown on cinema screens before a film, sold by audience packs, film genre and venue rather than by individual viewer. Delivered as a Digital Cinema Package and subject to its own age-rating clearance separate from broadcast clearance.
BCAP and CAP codes
The two UK advertising codes, enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority: BCAP governs broadcast advertising and CAP governs everything non-broadcast. They set the rules on substantiation, harm, offence and specific product categories.
More on compliance and clearance
UK data protection and UK advertising clearance: what has to be true before an ad runs.
45 minutes. Bring a real brief and we compile it live. You describe one audience and watch it compile into seven targeting specifications, each with the score for how much of the definition survived.
Talk it through