Top ten most complained about ad campaigns 2003

15 October 2004

Every year, a handful of advertisements prompt large numbers of complaints to the ASA. In 2003, most concern was expressed about a national press campaign, but the imagery and wording used on several posters also led to a heavy postbag for the ASA. It is the ASA Council's task to evaluate whether or not an advertisement breaks the CAP Code, taking into account the detail of the complaint and evidence supplied by the advertiser.

The most complained about ad campaign of 2003 also ranks as the most complained about national press campaign in the ASA's history. Barnardo's controversial 'Silver Spoon' campaign prompted 475 people to lodge complaints with the ASA. The complaints were upheld as the ASA Council considered that the charity had used unduly shocking images of babies to attract attention that were likely cause to serious or widespread offence.

Each of the top ten most complained about ads of 2003 drew complaints on the grounds of offensiveness. In total, these ten ads accounted for 1,631, or 45%, of the 3707 complaints received by the ASA on the grounds of taste and decency last year. The other 55% of the complaints on this issue related to 650 ads!

The decency section of the CAP Code, against which complaints are judged, states that:

"Ads should not cause serious or widespread offence. Particular care should be taken on the grounds of sex, sexual orientation, race, disability and religion. Compliance with the Code will be judged on the context, content, medium, target audience and the prevailing standard of decency in society."

The Barnardo's campaign was one of only two campaigns in the Top Ten listing which had the complaints against them upheld. All the other ad campaigns, such as the second most complained about campaign - a poster for SCA Hygiene's Velvet toilet tissue brand, which showed naked bottoms and drew 375 objections - were deemed acceptable by the ASA Council.

The full listing of the ten most complained about ads can be found in the Annual Report for 2003, accessible from the home page at www.asa.org.uk.