26,000 complaints to advertising one-stop shop
26 April 2006
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has today published its Annual Report for 2005. The Report, which covers the ASA's first full year of regulating TV and radio as well as non-broadcast advertising, reveals that a total of 26,236 complaints were lodged in 2005 - a 16% rise on the number of complaints received in 2004. Complaints about broadcast advertising rose by 37% in comparison with 2004, suggesting that the one-stop shop is making it easier for consumers to register their objections to broadcast ads.
The key figures
- The ASA received 26,236 complaints received about 11,865 ads in 2005.
- 2,241 ads were changed or withdrawn as a result of ASA action
- The most complained about media was televison with 12,775 complaints, followed by national press (2,302 complaints); direct mail (2,293); posters (2,236) and Internet (1,557)
- 19% of the complaints (5,018) received related to the top 10 most complained about ads of the year
- 49% of the complaints received in the year concerned non-broadcast advertising. Of the 51% of complaints that concerned broadcast advertising, 95% of these were about television ads
- Six advertisers referred to statutory regulators for non-compliance with the CAP Code.
Launching the Annual Report ASA Chairman, Lord Borrie QC, said the rise in the number of complaints did not suggest that advertising standards had fallen: "The rise in the number of complaints is not because advertising standards have deteriorated, or because the public has become more included to object, but rather because the one-stop shop has made it simpler and easier to lodge a complaint." The advertising industry, he continued, had also benefited from the new approach: "The advertising industry does not back the one-stop shop out of charity or sentiment. Instead, self-regulation supports the integrity of marketing messages and the freedom to advertise responsibly."
Click here to view our Annual Report microsite or download a PDF of the report.