Every year, a handful of advertisements prompt large numbers of complaints to the Advertising Standards
Authority. 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 breaches the CAP Code, taking into account the detail
of the complaint and evidence supplied by the advertiser. Here we list the campaigns that received
the most complaints during the year.

The ASA's full adjudications, together with further ads from the campaigns, are on our website at www.asa.org.uk

Top ten most complained about ads >>
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Jews for Jesus


A national press and poster campaign received complaints objecting that the ads were offensive and racist because they stereotyped Orthodox Jews as people who were unable to think for themselves. While recognising that many Jews had found the message of the ads highly offensive, the ASA concluded the campaign did not imply that Orthodox Jews could not think for themselves and that it was acceptable under the CAP Code.
44 Complaints. Not upheld