The ASA acts to resolve complaints about advertisements in UK media, including television, radio, press, posters, direct marketing and some online advertising. There were 2,458 ads changed or withdrawn in 2007 following ASA action. We prefer to resolve complaints through discussion and dialogue and most problem ads are amended or withdrawn in this way.
Click here to view 2007 complaints tables and charts.
Complaints received
In 2007, the ASA received 24,192 complaints about a record 14,080 advertisements. The total number of complaints received increased by 7.9% in comparison with 2006. Although this figure is lower than the all-time high of 2005 when 26,236 complaints were received, the number of ads complained about continued to rise: 2007’s total represented an increase of 9.6% on the year before.
The number of broadcast complaints received increased by nearly 20% to 10,685 compared with 2006, reflecting the fact that seven out of the 10 most complained about campaigns of the year included TV ads. The total number of broadcast ads complained about was 2,639, with just 658 of those complaints about radio advertisements.
Overall, non-broadcast media attracted more objections, with a total of 13,507 complaints about 11,441 non-broadcast advertisements. However, this represents a mere 0.4% growth in the number of complaints year on year, while the number of non-broadcast ads complained about has increased by 9.2%.
Complaints resolved
During the year the ASA resolved 23,953 complaints about 14,009 ads, being almost the same as the total number of complaints received. This represents a record workload achievement by the organisation to date and demonstrates its ability to adjust to an underlying increase in the number of ads complained about in recent years.Complaints resolved on broadcast media amounted to 10,573 and those on non-broadcast were 13,380, being 44.1% and 55.9% of the total respectively. The ratio of complaints to ads was markedly different between the two areas, with broadcast being an average of 4.0 complaints per ad whilst non-broadcast was 1.2.
Of the total number of complaints resolved 18,420 (76.9%) were not investigated and 5,533 (23.1%) were subject to investigation – with the latter being further divided into 3,866 that were formally investigated (16.1%) and 1,667 that were pursued informally (7%).
Reason for complaint
Overall, misleadingness accounted for nearly half of all complaints received during the year although the majority (8,604) of these complaints were about non-broadcast ads. Offensiveness was the main reason for complaint about broadcast advertising with 5,900 complaints about 3,412 ads. Six of those ads head the list of the top 10 most complained about ads of the year, accounting for 2,090 broadcast complaints.Resolution
Of the 3,866 complaints relating to ads that were formally investigated, 2,579 (66.7%) resulted in an upheld adjudication. This figure for upheld complaints was noticeably higher than the figure of 1,917 for 2006. However, the number of ads that the upheld decision refers to for 2007 (389) was lower than that for 2006 (457).The number of broadcast complaints that were formally investigated amounted to 2,205 and of these 1,411 (64%) were upheld. These referred to 89 ads, and were similar to the 2006 figure of 93.
Formally investigated non-broadcast complaints were 1,661, of which 1,168 (70.3%) were upheld, and these referred to 300 ads (364 in 2006).
Media
Television remains the most complained about advertising medium, but internet advertising now takes second place, overtaking the national press which ranks third. Posters and direct mail are the fourth and fifth most complained about media respectively.Source of complaint
Industry complaints were more prevalent in non-broadcast media, with 1,208 or 9% of non-broadcast complaints coming from competitors. In broadcast media there were fewer industry complaints, accounting for just 169 or 1.6% of TV and radio complaints received.Sector
Overall, leisure was the most complained about sector, with food and drink ranking second and ads by non-commercial organisations third. In non-broadcast media, leisure attracted more complaints than any other sector (2,659 complaints) although in broadcast media, food and drink was the top category (2,765 complaints) with leisure ranking second (1,722 complaints). Food and drink’s dominance amongst broadcast complaints can be explained by five TV food ads which accounted for a total of 1,425 broadcast complaints. All of these complaints were about offensiveness, irresponsibility or harm and the relevant ads are listed in the top 10 most complained about ads.Internet advertising
A total of 2,980 complaints were received about internet advertising. Of those, 2,144 (72%) were about the content of websites and as such fell outside of the ASA’s remit. The remaining complaints were about sponsored search online (3.4%), sales promotions (7.2%), display internet advertising (11.6%), classified, video and viral ads.Online remit
The ASA’s remit online extends to:• ads in paid for space (e.g. banners and pop-ups)
• viral marketing
• ads appearing on Interactive TV
• the contents of marketing e-mails
• online sales promotions
• sponsored search results
The vast majority of all complaints about the internet (84%) were about misleading advertisements or content. Complaints about pricing and charges and the availability of products are more common in online advertising than in traditional media. Other common complaints about online advertising relate to delivery times or the omission of relevant information. In 2007, just 8% of internet complaints were about offensiveness and only 2% related to harm.
